Rajouri Firing a Terror Attack, Say Intel Sources: Time to Bring Back Local Defence Committees in Jammu? Exclusive

The killing of four in Rajouri district on Sunday was a terror attack, with the intention of disturbing peace in Jammu and Kashmir, top intelligence sources told CNN-News18. Meanwhile, the incident has led to the demand that the government should look into the promise to re-establish village defence committees (VDC) in Jammu to fight terror locally, ground intelligence reports suggest.

“The terror theatre is shifting towards Jammu because there are more Kashmiri Pandits in the region now, making target killing easy," according to top intelligence sources.

“These killings are done with the intention of showing the administration in poor light. They are also aimed at creating a communal divide. This is a revival of terror activities in Jammu region," they said.

The Resistance Front (TRF) has refuted that it was a terror attack, but firing and the improvised explosive device (IED) blast suggest a professional hand, said intelligence sources.

This type of attack usually has Lashkar footprint, they said.

VILLAGE DEFENCE COMMITTEES

The killing of six people, including two children of Hindu community, in a terror attack in a Rajouri village could lead to Hindu-Muslim divide, ground intelligence reports suggest, adding the government should look into its promise of re-establish VDCs in Jammu. The aim of a VDC is to fight terrorism, provide hi-tech weapons and ensure equal salary to its members.

The VDCs were constituted in 1995, with 26,567 locals in 10 districts of Jammu region to fight terrorists in far-off places. In the 1990s, when terrorism and violence were at their peak in Jammu and Kashmir, the VDCs helped people in remote areas and defended them. The committees were credited with fighting terrorists and stopping migration of locals from peripheries in the wake of several killings, especially in 2001. Most of the VDCs were disbanded by the previous governments.

Areas like Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, parts of the Pir Panjal range such as Rajouri and Poonch, and Chenab valley have a mixed population and are communally sensitive. Senior officers say the threat of terrorists looms large on the Chenab valley, which is why the anti-terrorist grid has to be intensified. They say that some youngsters are missing from the Chenab valley.

The presence of police and other security forces in upper reaches of districts of the Chenab valley is thin. If an incident takes place, it takes hours for a person in uniform to reach the incident site. These groups can play a crucial role in such areas. The VDCs can enhance confidence among members of different communities and also help stop migration, ground intelligence reports suggest.

In the past, Muslims and Hindus both participated in VDCs. Some, however, fear that as Kishtwar, Doda, Rajouri, Poonch and Ramban are communally sensitive areas, such steps might further deepen the divide between Hindus and Muslims. Residents of Chenab valley have seen a major transformation in the VDCs over time.

SUNDAY, MONDAY TERROR

On Sunday evening, terrorists opened fire at three houses in the area in Rajouri district, killing four civilians and injuring six. On Monday, a four-year-old child was killed and seven people, three of them children, were injured in an IED explosion on Monday near the house of one of the victims of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir?s Dangri village, officials said.

The incidents, barely 14 hours apart, triggered protests across the district, including in Rajouri town, amid a complete shutdown.

Officials said a team of the National Investigation Agency has reached Dangri and it will conduct an initial probe. The blast took place near the house of Pritam Lal, a victim of the terror attack, eyewitnesses claimed. ?The IED was planted beneath a bag,? Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, told reporters in Rajouri.

The army and police are conducting a massive search operation, the senior police officer, who reached the spot along with Jammu-Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, said. Two terrorists are involved in the attack according to locals, Singh said.

Earlier in the day, the officer had said, ?The blast has taken place near the house of the first firing incident? and that another IED has been spotted.

Eyewitnesses said there were several people, including the kin of the Sunday attack?s victim, in the house when the blast took place between 9 am and 9.30 am. The four-year-old child killed in the blast has been identified as Vihan Kumar, officials said.

Sanvi Sharma, 4, Kanaya Sharma, 14, Vanshu Sharma, 15, Samiksha Devi, 20, Sharda Devi, 38, Kamlesh Devi, 55, and Samiksha Sharma have been injured, they said, adding that they are undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Those behind the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir?s Dangri village will not go unpunished, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Monday and announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia and a government job to the next of kin of the civilians killed in the incident.

Sunday?s attack was the first such in the past many years in the otherwise peaceful Jammu region and coincided with the first day of the New Year.

With Agency Inputs

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