Militants who killed 7 hiding in Rajouri with aid of some locals: police

Confirming the audio message, a senior police officer said their cordon and search operations are in progress.

Referring to the attack, police said in the audio, “Yeh hamla karney waley abhi bhi Rajouri ke pahaari ilakey mein chhupey huey hein, aur kisi bhi waqt koi bhi ghinoni wardaat ko anjaam de saktey hain (the killers are still hiding in the hilly areas of Rajouri and can carry out their nefarious activities any time).

“Besides helping these militants move from one place to another, and providing them shelter, some people are (also) helping them by providing information about the movement and actions of police and paramilitary forces,” it said.

Police also appealed for help from the local people in completely eliminating militancy.

In the audio message, police reiterated the Rs 10-lakh award announced earlier for anyone providing information on the militants.

The development comes two days after Saroj Bala, a widow who lost both her two sons in the New Year attack, threatened on Monday to start an indefinite hunger strike unless police managed to trace and nab the militants in 15 days. She had earlier threatened to go on an indefinite fast from Monday, but agreed to change her decision following a meeting convened by village sarpanch Dheeraj Sharma.