TWO MINORS, cousins Vihan Kumar Sharma (4) and Samiksha Sharma (16), were killed and 10 others injured in a suspected IED blast on Monday morning at one of the three houses where militants gunned down four persons, in Upper Dangri village on the outskirts of Rajouri town in Jammu and Kashmir, the previous evening. The children were the nephew and niece of Deepak Sharma (23), who was among those killed on Sunday evening. They were sitting in the courtyard of Deepak Sharma's house when the blast occurred at about 9.30 am. The militants are suspected to have planted the IED during the attack on Sunday. “The IED was planted beneath a bag,” said Additional Director General of Police (Jammu) Mukesh Singh, who reached the spot with Divisional Commissioner (Jammu) Ramesh Kumar. He said another suspected IED had been spotted and defused. A PTI report quoted Director General of Police Dilbag Singh as saying that the IED was intended to target senior officials who were to reach the site. Sources said the toll could have been higher if the villagers had gathered at Deepak Sharma's house to mourn his death. However, protesting against the security lapse, the villagers had taken the four bodies to Dangri Chowk, the village square, and sat on a dharna there. The villagers claimed that security personnel, who had launched a cordon-and-search operation in the area after the attack on Sunday, had missed the IED. They refused to lift the dharna until Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha visited them later in the day. The bodies were then shifted to a local government school, and are set to be cremated on Tuesday. With some protesters claiming that the incident could have been averted if the authorities had not taken away the weapons of the village defence committees (VDCs), DGP Dilbag Singh, who also visited the site, announced that the VDCs will now be revived and rearmed. Villagers said the toll in Sunday's attack could have been higher if a member of the now disbanded VDC, identified as Bal Krishan, had not opened fire from his .303 rifle. Bal Krishan said he had not responded to the authorities' instructions to surrender weapons earlier. Besides Deepak Sharma, the others killed on Sunday have been identified as Satish Kumar (45), Pritam Lal (56) and Shishu Pal (32). A relative said Deepak Sharma, a post-graduate in mathematics, was recruited in the Army recently and was scheduled to join next week. The village has about 1,000 households, mostly Hindus. Giving details of the attack, villagers said two militants first opened fire at Deepak Sharma's house, injuring his younger brother and a cousin, at about 6.45 pm. When Deepak Sharma, who was on the road outside his house, ran inside, he was shot. The militants then reportedly went to the neighbouring house of Pritam Lal, who was sitting in the courtyard with his two minor grandchildren and daughter-in-law. The attackers reportedly asked him to show his Aadhaar card. When Pritam Lal went inside to get his Aadhaar card, the militants reportedly locked his daughter-in-law and grandchildren in the kitchen, and shot him. When his son, Shishu Pal, who had gone to a relative’s house in the neighbourhood, reached his home, he was gunned down too. Thereafter, the militants reportedly went to the house of Satish Kumar, an ex-serviceman. Working as a security guard in Mumbai, Satish Kumar had come home 10-12 days ago to attend the death anniversary of his uncle. According to villagers, Satish Kumar was shutting the main gate of his house when militants forced it open and shot him. His wife, children and younger brother were also injured. The militants then reportedly targeted a fourth house of a villager, Chander Parkash, but found only a woman and a minor girl inside. They left after spraying bullets on the walls. Meanwhile, the villagers rushed to the spot. Bansi Lal then opened fire from his weapon, after which the militants fled, said the villagers. Both the militants are still at large. Alleging a security lapse, villagers said suspected militants had killed two civilians outside an Army camp at nearby Muradpur village, about 4 km from Upper Dangri, on December 16. If combing operations had been carried out in the area, Sunday's attackers would have been tracked, they said. Meanwhile, a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) also reached the village to investigate the incident. Condemning the attack, L-G Sinha announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia and a government job to the next of kin of those killed since Sunday evening, and Rs 1 lakh each to those with serious injuries.
