Two foreigners and a local militant of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), intending to snatch weapons, were behind the attack on a police bus on Monday, as the death toll rose to three with one more policeman succumbing to his injuries on Tuesday. A non-local “wanted” militant was killed in an anti-militancy operation in Poonch.
“It was a planned attack. The terrorists fired indiscriminately at the bus that plies daily on the same route. Two foreigners and a local carried out the Zewan attack,” IGP Vijay Kumar said, after a wreath-laying ceremony for the deceased policemen.
The plan was meticulous as the militants alighted in the area, which otherwise houses major installations of other security wings in its vicinity, only after the road opening party of the security forces was withdrawn from the stretch. “The attackers had done a recce of the area,” IGP Kumar said.
Twenty-five policemen of the armed reserve police’s 9 battalion were onboard the bus when it was fired upon from at least two sides around 6 p.m., leaving three dead and 11 injured.
“The policemen retaliated to the fire and didn’t allow the attackers to snatch weapons,” IGP Kumar said.
He said one of the injured attackers fled to Pampore and then to Khrew in Pulwama. “The blood trail of the injured militant has provided a clue about where they fled. We have other leads as well. We will track down the group soon,” IGP Kumar said.
The police have decided to provide bullet-proof vehicles to the policemen to ferry them from one point to another.
The third deceased policeman was identified as Rameez Ahmad from Ganderbal.
The police said a little-known outfit Kashmir Tigers, affiliated to the JeM, was behind the attack.
In its purported claim put out in Urdu on social media, commander Altaf Hussain Qasmi said, “We had cautioned the police not to create a hurdle in the way of mujahideen and desist from anti-movement activities. The police instead proved stubborn. We were forced to take tough action. The [Zewan] attack will not be our first or last. We will intensify our attacks.”
Non-local militant killed in Poonch: Army
The Army on Tuesday said it killed a “wanted” non-local militant in Behramgala area of Poonch.
“The operation was launched on December 13 along with the police after receiving specific intelligence inputs about the presence of armed terrorists. During the encounter in the early hours on December 14, one terrorist attempted to escape and opened fire at the security personnel. He was, however, neutralised in the ensuing fire,” a Jammu-based Army spokesman said.
He said one AK-47 rifle, four magazines and pouches were recovered from the slain terrorist, who was identified as Abu Zarara. The police said the slain militant was active in the Rajouri-Poonch belt and was affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). “The operation in the area continues,” officials said.
