It was on July 29 that a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, Qasim, issued orders to Mohammad Naved, a 20-year-old Pakistani terrorist captured in Udhampur after an attack on a Border Security Force convoy on Wednesday, and his partner, Noman, to be ready for a Fidayeen attack. A truck was arranged for them and they left for Jammu from Pulwama in south Kashmir.
“Had it not been for Constable Rocky, there could have been a bigger mayhem. Only Rocky had a weapon,” D.K. Pathak, Director-General, BSF, said. Rocky fell to the bullets of Noman, who flagged down a BSF bus and started firing. Constable Suvendu Roy was also killed in the firing.
The bus had 44 personnel on board. D.K. Pathak, Director-General, BSF, said had it not been for the courage and valour shown by Constable Rocky, more personnel would have fallen dead.
A senior government official said: “What is revealing is that he [Naved] received constant help from Abu Dujana, the number-two LeT man in the Valley. Five more LeT cadres, Usman, Shahin, Gulzar, Shokat Lone and Abu Ukasha, who have been identified in police records, were with Naved and his group. It points to a clear involvement of LeT in this entire attack.”
On June 9, the four terrorists and two local guides hired a small truck from Baba Rishi at Tangmarg, where they reached after infiltrating through the LoC at Kupwara on May 27, and reached Awantipora. Here they were received by two local people and stayed in their house for four days. The group then reached a hideout in Khrew. Here they were joined by three militants who recently infiltrated.
On August 4, Naved and Noman crossed the toll plaza at Jawahar tunnel at 2.15 p.m. and took a receipt for travelling to Punjab. In the evening, they crossed Ramban and reached Patnitop, where they stayed for the night and cooked their own food. The next day, the truck dropped them at a tea stall near Samroli in Udhampur, where the attack took place. The two had tea and around 8 a.m., they opened fire at the BSF bus.
No longer safe
Mr. Pathak said this was the first time in two decades that National Highway 44, the main highway which connects Jammu and Srinagar, was targeted.
“It was considered to be safe territory till now, our convoys were moving in the area as part of routine duty; there is no fixed pattern on movement of convoy, we keep changing it,” he said.
On reports that Noman was killed by Central Reserve Police Force personnel, Mr. Pathak said: “There is absolutely no doubt who killed the terrorist: it was BSF constable Rocky. The reinforcements reached 25 minutes later.”
