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| Week-long operation ends with killing of two infiltrators in Punjab | | Two Punjab police cops also killed | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 25: Hiding in wheat fields for a week to avoid contact with police, two infiltrators, who had escaped from Rajbagh in Kathua after a brief encounter with police on April 19 last, were killed early Sunday morning by Punjab police (PP) in a gunbattle at Ratarwan in
Gurdaspur, close to the Punjab's border with J&K, near the Indo-Pak International Border (IB). Two PP cops also lost their lives.
The two slain militants, who were from Pakistan, belonged to the pan-Islamic militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Kathua SSP Gareeb Dass said.Punjab DGP P S Gill told The Early Times on phone that the two militants had been killed by the valiant cops. The gun battle also left two policemen dead, he added.
Gill said post-encounter search operations had been launched in certain villages in the border belt of Gurdaspur.The two were part of the group of five to seven militants, which had infiltrated into India on April 19 last from the Punjab's Simble Spol border area where over 10 metres of barbed fire fencing was blown up in rocket attacks by Pakistan.
From the breach caused by the damaged fencing, at least five to seven militants had sneaked into Simble Spol, close to Rajbagh in J&K's Kathua district, police sources said, quoting intelligence inputs.
While the others managed to cross the national highway and then melt into the nearby forested mountains leading to the militancy-infested Ramnagar and Doda districts, the two lost way and reached Hariachak at Rajbagh.
After a brief exchange of fire with a police party at Hariachak on April 19 at about 6.55 pm, the duo had hidden themselves in the nearby densely forested nursery. Though the nursery was encircled by police and army, the militants had managed to give them a slip, leaving behind a rucksack which contained frsh food items, including chappatis, roasted chicken and dry fruit, besides incriminating documents.
Massive searches were made for them, but they remained untraced as to avoid contact with police or army in Rajbagh area, they crossed Ujh river and entered nearby Punjab village Kote Patian where they spent time on April 20 and 21 in wheat fields without being seen by anyone, the sources added.
On 21st night, they had food and milk from the house of Harbhajan Singh, who, however, did not inform police about their presence in the area. On April 23 night, they went to the house of Des Raj at Ratarwan, which adjoins Kote Patian, and demanded food. Des Rj later brought the matter to the notice of Narote Jaimal Singh police station under
which Ratarwan fell.
Operations were then launched in Ratarwan and Rajbagh villages by the police of two states, but the duo remained untraced. Sources said after night-long searches, when DSP (rural), Gurdaspur, stopped his Tata Sumo at about 6 am by the side of a dirt track
leading to Des Raj's house to ask him prepare tea for him and other cops, he was being watched by the two infiltrators from a nearby nullah.
Sources said the duo crawled in the nullah and reached close to the parked police sumo and lobbed a grenade, which, however, did not explode.The cops, who were standing near the sumo, fled for cover. The militants, however, lobbed another grenade and opened heavy volume of fire, killing two Punjab police cops, including sumo driver
Narinder Singh and DSP's reader Surinder Singh, and injuring two others who were hospitalised. More Punjab police cops and the DSP then took positions. Sources
said one militant was killed in about 25 minutes of gunbattle while the other, who had taken cover of the sumo, was killed half an hour later.
Search operations were continuing in Rajbagh and the adjoining Punjab areas to see if any more militants were hiding there.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced an immediate relief of Rs 10 lakh each to the next of kin of the two police constables who died fighting the militants.
Describing Narinder and Surinder as "martyrs" in a statement, Badal said one dependent each from their families would get government jobs as per eligibility.
Besides, their families would continue to get the full salary of the deceased till the scheduled date of their retirement and would avail of the post-retirement benefits, the chief minister added.
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