LeT militants gun down four

Continuing with their atrocities against civilians, militants owing allegiance to the Lashkar-e-Toiba LeT killed four people, including two women and a child, in a remote hamlet in Udhampur district. On Wednesday night, sources say, a group of eight to nine militants swooped down on Chakaras-Seripheli in Udhampur and barged into the houses of Abdul Rehman and Mohammad Farooq. They made the family members gather in a room and tortured them for hours.

Later, the militants killed four people, including two women and a one-and-half-year-old child. The deceased were identified as Samina Begum 65, her daughter-in-law Shyamina 30, Farooq Ahmad8217;s wife and child Bilal and Abdul Rahim8217;s son Jamaldin 45. Sources say the heads of the families were not present at the time of incident. The reason behind the killings was not known. By the time, security personnel reached the spot, the militants had fled.

Papers seized from the site point to the involvement of Lashkar militants in the incident. Some relatives of the victims are either surrendered militants or are in the police force. Sources say, this could be the reason why militants targeted them. The BSF and police have launched a joint operation in the area.