Militants kill six of Rajouri family in a revenge attack

Local sources suspect the attack was in retaliation to the killing of two top JeM militants on May 5, which the outfit had blamed on the family.

Yesterday, when the militants raided the house at around 10 pm, Mehmood Bakerwal was out to attend the marriage function of his nephew. His SPO son Khan Mohammad was in PTA, Udhampur, and the other two sons — Wazir Mohammad and Babu Khan, who are in Army — were at their respective places of posting.

Sources said the militants first enquired about Mehmood’s three sons. Finding they were not there they caught hold of Mehmood’s 60-year-old wife Khatoon, Khan Mohammad’s wife Taj Begum, Wazir’s wife Hanifa Begum, their two sons — Irshad (4) and Maroof Ahmad (2) — and Babu’s wife Zakira Begum and beat them up with rifle butts.

Later, they cut their throats and fled the village. After the barbaric raid, the only ones who survived were Khatoon’s 100-year-old mother and Khan Mohammad’s 8-month-old daughter as they were sleeping in another room.

Locals said the massacre, which has sent shock waves throughout the region, spoke volumes about the fast eroding base of militants, especially foreign mercenaries. According to their version, on May 5, the two JeM militants were beaten to death by the Bakerwals.

Quite recently, villagers in Rajouri had openly come out against a militant call to enforce burqa, despite the killing of three Muslim girls in the district. Even in the adjoining Poonch district, nomadic Gujjars have beaten up and chased away militants from their areas on many occasions.