DE Web Desk
JAMMU, Jan 2: The death toll in the Rajouri IED blast at Upper Dhangri has gone up to two after a minor girl, who was among the six people injured in the blast, succumbed to injuries on Monday.
The girl was being treated at the Rajouri hospital.
The IED was seemingly planted by the militants in one of the three houses where they shot ten people on Sunday evening. Three of the injured died on the spot and the fourth on the way to the hospital. Six others are being treated in hospitals in Jammu.
The blast left a seven-year-old child dead on the spot while six others were injured.
According to reports quoting eyewitnesses, two gunmen at 7pm on Sunday appeared at Upper Dhangri surrounded by forests at 7 pm and opened fire at the inmates of three houses near a temple. The attack continued for ten minutes. The attackers then fled from the spot under the cover of darkness. The attack left three people dead on the spot and seven others were injured. Another injured succumbed on the way to the hospital in an Army helicopter to Jammu.
Soon after the attack, J&K Police, CRPF, and the Army, according to Additional Director General ADG, Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh, launched a massive search operation to nab the two “armed men” behind the attack at Upper Dhangri village.
“Firing took place at three houses, separated at a distance of around 50 metres from each other,” Singh said. The deceased have been identified as Pritam Sharma (56) son of Lal Chand and his 33-year-old son Ashish Kumar, Deepak Kumar (23) son of Rajinder Kumar, a PHE employee, and Sheetal Kumar (48) son of Sat Pal, all residents of Upper Dhangri. Injured airlifted to the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu are Rohit Pandit (35) son of Gopal Dass and Shubam Sharma (20) son of Pritam Sharma. Four injured admitted in the GMC Rajouri are Pawan Kumar (38) son of Sat Pal, Saroj Bala (35) wife of Sheetal Kumar, Sushil Kumar (40) son of Kundal Lal, and Urishi Sharma (17) daughter of Sheetal Kumar.
The killings have sparked protests from the people in the area and also in Rajouri town. The security forces have launched a search operation to trace the attackers. In Rajouri town, people, along with the bodies of those killed in the attack, gathered at Dangri chowk and blocked roads. They are demanding that L.G. Sinha come to the protest site. Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha.
on Monday condemned the attack in Rajouri and also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh and a government to the next of kin of slain civilians.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Rajouri. I assure the people that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families,” the office of LG J&K tweeted.
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