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Journalism of Courage
The two militants said to have been behind the Rajiv Nagar massacre emerged from the forest behind the slum settlement today and shot dead two Jammu and Kashmir policemen. The policemen were killed at the Raika forest 200 metres away from the spot where 28 people had lost their lives on July 13, said police sources.
Acting on a tip-off from local residents, security personnel cordoned off the area and launched a 8216;8216;seek and destroy8217;8217; operation at about 3 p.m.
A forest guard and a Raika resident had spotted the militants on Monday itself. A search team led by Manohar Singh, SP, Special Operation Group of the J038;K Police, had on Tuesday combed the forests, but they returned empty-handed. Separately, the Army-militant standoff at the high-security DC Colony in Rajouri, which started at 7.45 yesterday evening, ended at 9 am today. An Army captain, Rajesh Reddy, was killed along with four militants, said to be from the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
They have been identified as Abu Abdul Rehman, Abu Hamzullah, Abdul Salam and Salam Mohammad. One AK 47 and three AK 56 rifles along with ten magazines, 444 rounds and six hand grenades were seized. Four sets of Army8217;s combat clothing were also found on the militants.
According to police sources, it was the alertness of a 16-year-old local resident that tipped them off to the militants8217; presence. The militants had on Wednesday apparently tucked themselves away in an under construction house just 100 meters away from the colony, a residential complex housing senior civil and police officials.
On Wednesday, said police sources, the militants, posing as Special Operation Group personnel, met the teenager on their way to Rajouri and asked him to accompany them.
When he refused, they beat him up and took away his identity card and money. The boy following the militants from a distance and saw them enter the house. He informed the police, who ran a check and found that no SOG force had been tasked to patrol the area.
The police then contacted security forces to to launch a joint operation that started at around 4 pm yesterday and ended only this morning.
