 Akshay Azad
HIRANAGAR, Sept 28: Two days after twin terror attacks by three fidayeen in Hirangar and Samba that claimed 13 lives, panic gripped tehsil Hirangar following reports of three militants donning in Army uniforms were spotted by students and peon of Primary School Chajrth, zone Salan of Dayalachak, tehsil Hiranagar at around 9:15 today.
The news spread like wildfire in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts, following which all schools in district Kathua were closed while a search operation was launched in Dayalachak, Hirangar and adjoining areas. The highway was sealed by authorities and vehicular movement was stopped while checking of vehicles started at several nakas along national highway between Kathua and Jammu and in adjoining areas.
However, after around five hours of searches by Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force in Dayalachak, Hiranagar and adjoining areas, no terrorist was found and neither police got any clue about them and news proved to be a hoax.
Suspected militants were spotted just few yards outside premises of Government Primary School Chajrth of Salan Zone, which is around three kilometers downside of Dayalachak Morh. Outside its boundary wall, there are vast paddy fields, large grown bushes and trees, while few meters backside there is a season nullah.
Teachers working at Government Primary School Chajrth of Salan Zone, Ankush Sharma and Sahil Kumar informed Early Times that they had just started class work while peon Preet Kour had started making food for students.
"A girl student went to nearby tube-well, which is outside the boundary wall of school, to quench her thirst, where she saw one person in Army fatigues who was drinking water besides two others were standing near bushes. All three have long beards while two have had big bags on their shoulders", the teachers informed.
They further added that peon Preet Kour also saw the suspected militants and immediately informed teachers. "We also saw three persons in Army fatigues, who fled away in no time. We get frightened, closed the school and informed villagers, who informed police", they said. Other villagers present on the spot said that for around one hour, none of police personnel reached the spot.
The news spread like wildfire across Jammu, Samba and Kathua. All nakas were alerted, National Highway was sealed with checking of all vehicles started at various locations on National Highway between Jammu and Lakhanpur. All the schools in district Kathua and tehsil Hiranagar were closed by authorities, after getting information about spotting of terrorists.
The search operation in Tehsil Hirangar and adjoining areas was called off by authorities at around 2 PM, while vehicular traffic on National Highway also resumed after combing operation was called off by authorities.
SDPO, Mohan Lal Kaith, while sharing the details informed media persons that at 9:37 AM they received a call from a villager regarding sighting of terrorists near school.
"Immediately we alerted all nakas, national highway was sealed and a search operation was launched with additional police and CRPF personnel", he said, adding that after around five hours of search operation, they didn't get any information about terrorists.
Inspector General of Police, Jammu Division, Rajesh Kumar told a news agency that some locals provided wrong information to the police. "We combed the area including adjacent dense forests and no suspected militants were seen found present in the area. It was only a rumour which spread from mouth to mouth," Kumar said.
The Jammu-Pathankot Highway that was sealed by police after the presence of suspected militants in the area was left open for the traffic soon after the search operation was called off.
Moreover, combing operation was also launched in Akhnoor area after villagers sighted some suspicious persons (terrorists) near a school but after hours long search operation, the news also proved to be a hoax. |
