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| Pak national among two LeT ultras killed in Thanamandi encounter | | Army jawan also loses life; Maj among three injured | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
RAJOURI/JAMMU, Aug 15: Trained in guerilla warfare and the acts of sabotage, the two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants killed by army and police today in a 36-hour-long gunbattle at Saronwali in Thanamandi, Rajouri, had dug out pits in the maize fields to save themselves from the jawans' bullets.
This became known in the afternoon while the jawans moved forward in the fields to take on the militants hiding there, police sources said.
There were a total of six militants. While three got engaged in an encounter with troops, the other three were firing from a nearby hilltop, the sources added.
The group was suspected to be the same which had on August 11 last attacked two army vehicles and a Video Coach at Manyal Gali in Thanamandi, killing two persons and wounding over 20 others.
As army and police jawans were searching for them in the forests since the August 11 attack, they tracked them down at Saronwali, another Thanamandi village, Saturday.
Police sources said when the troops picked up their movement in the Saronwali maize fields and challenged them at about 12.30 pm yesterday, they had come under heavy fire from them. Fire was returned.
The intermittent exchange of fire between the two sides continued throughout last night. However, taking advantage of the darkness on Saturday, they dug out pits in the fields and took positions in them to save themselves from the jawans' bullets, the sources added.
In a grenade explosion caused by the militants followed by heavy firing today, Maj Sushil Mahapatra was wounded critically while his personal security officer (PSO) S K Singha was killed on the spot.
SPO Iftikhar Malik and villager Mohammad Khalid of Rajdhani Morha, Saronwali, also sustained bullet injuries.
While Mahapatra was airlifted to the command hospital in Udhampur, the other injured were admitted to the Rajouri district hospital.
Mahapatra's condition was stated to be serious. Sources said after the PSO got killed and the others sustained wounds, jawans launched a fresh offensive, killing two militants, including a Pakistani.
The slain militants were identified as Sajid Khan of Srinagar and Zuloo-2 (code name) of Pakistan. A large quantity of ammunition was recovered from them.
Sources said when the jawans moved into the maize fields to take the bodies in their possession, they found the pits which had been dug by the militants.
One militant was injured and he was still firing intermittently on the troops, the sources added, saying he was likely to be killed tonight as troops had plugged all the escape routes in the area.
Sources said while the gunbattle between the two sides was on in the morning, at least three militants fired in the direction of the jawans from a nearby hill to provide cover to the trapped militants.
Troops had also been despatched to the spot from where the other group of militants was firing, the sources added.
Sources said reinforcements were also rushed to the spot late tonight. |
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