JAMMU, June 11: The terrorists, have let loose a
reign of terror in the hilly villages of Billawar and Bani tehsils. Last
month, a special police officer and a woman were killed in two separate
militancy-related incidents in Roulka village of Bani tehsil. In both the
encounters, which followed, the terrorists managed to give slip to the
security forces.
In Malkar also, which comes in the jurisdiction of
Billawar tehsil, the terrorists continued to strike off and on, resorting
to killings, kidnappings and extortions. On June 8, in broad day light, a
group of terrorists, whose number was stated to be between five to seven,
descended to the village Sadrota from the upper reaches. At gun point,
they kidnapped four civilians and took them to an isolated area. They were
later shot dead.
Next morning the police recovered their bodies from
a forest area near Kamleo Gala village. The killed civilians have been
identified as Sudesh Kumar (28), Hans Raj, both brothers and sons of Paras
Ram. They belonged to village Raya Sayal. The other victims included Dhian
Singh (40) S/o Jodh Singh and Prakash Singh (50), S/o Mast Ram, both
residents of Morha Channa near Seri Galla, falling in village Sadrota.
The terrorists escaped after the killings. Tension
gripped Malhar and Billawar as soon as the report of civilians killings
spread. People resorted to shouting of slogans against police, alleging
inadequate security arrangements in the area that led to the killings.
Authorities disclosed that two army companies would be deployed at Sarthal,
one company each would be stationed at Taggar and Bani. People have been
demanding 'seek and destroy' operations against terrorists in this area,
for quite sometime.
Meanwhile, a youth who was kidnapped by terrorists
on the night of June 8, from a Dhok in the upper reaches of Punera in
Basantgarh, Ram Nagar, was found murdered in forests on June 11. The
victim, identified as 25-year old Rashpal Singh, son of Saneetu, had gone
to the higher reaches to graze his goats. After kidnapping him, he was
taken to some other dhok, where he was forced to cook their food and carry
their belongings to other destinations for a few days. Efforts of
Rashpal's family members to search him proved futile.
It was only after Basantgarh police intercepted a
message of the terrorists regarding killing of Rashpal, the police and the
villagers traced to body from the forest. His neck had been slit by the
terrorists and the semi-decomposed body witnessed marks of torture.
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