MULLANPUR (LUDHIANA), SEPT 24: On July 15, 1999, Lance Naik Jatinder Singh's legs were blown off by a landmine on Pt 5113. He learned to live with his disability, on the legs provided by the Artificial Limb Centre, Pune and kept his smile and confidence intact.Today, Jatinder is again in the hospital, at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana with severe head injuries; his wife and son are just a few beds away. His face mirrors pain and despair as he asks how his dear ones are. Unidentified assailants who struck last night has done to him what even the Pakistani army could not. He is shattered.He lost his mother and younger sister and seven family members are in hospitals. Jatinder, a J&K Rifles soldier who lost his legs in a landmine blast in Kargil, was due to receive a cheque on September 21 at a function organised by the government and voluntary organisations. However, it was subsequently postponed to September 27.Jatinder's 60-year-old mother Gurdev Kaur and younger sister Rupinder Kaur, 21, died in the attack while the soldier, his wife Jasbeer Kaur, son Tejveer, father Gyan Singh, brother Jagdip Singh and Jagdip's wife Balraj Kaur have sustained injuries. All of them have been admitted to the Dayanand Medical College in Ludhiana, where Balraj's condition was stated to be serious.Another sister, Simranjeet, has been admitted to Pandori Hospital at Mullanpur. One of his brothers was away at the time of the crime, and his wife had moved out following a marital dispute.According to the police, the assailants probably entered the house around midnight by scaling the back compound wall and attacked the sleeping family members; all of them sustained injuries on the head and the face. The entire house, except one locked room, was ransacked.The crime was detected early this morning when a local girl dropped in to borrow a utensil. She informed the sarpanch, who then called for the ambulance and the police.An iron grill shop located just across the house was open all night but workers there did not notice anything suspicious, according to Jagraon SSP Jaskaran Singh. Police patrol parties, who passed by the house several times at night, also did not spot anything unusual in the neighbourhood.The police were not able to comment on the amount of cash or valuables stolen since none of the family members were in a position to assess the loss, but Jasbeer's 10 tolas of gold is said to be missing.Jatinder told The Indian Express that the five-odd assailants had their faces and heads shrouded. ``They broke open the door of my room and attacked my wife and myself'', said the soldier who lost both his legs in a landmine blast in Kargil. ``They dragged my wife and me out into the courtyard.''The dog squad tracked the assailants till the approach road to Mullanpur and then lost the trace. ``The assailants probably used a vehicle from here'', said DSP Vijay Sharma.DIG P.S. Sandhu and SSP Jaskaran Singh told the media that the police were exploring several angles to the crime. ``There is no known history of any kale kacchewale gangs (robbers who operate in Punjab) covering their faces, but we aren't ruling out the possibility of their involvement in the crime'', they said.
