New Delhi: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will send additional 18 companies to Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of recent killings of civilians in two fresh militant attacks in Rajouri district, sources familiar with the development said.
The 18 CRPF companies – approximately 1,800 personnel – will be rushed to the Jammu region for deployment mainly in Poonch and Rajouri districts.
As per inputs, eight CRPF companies will be deployed very soon from nearby locations of deployment in Jammu and Kashmir while 10 CRPF companies are being rushed from Delhi.
The move followed a recent order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs amidst intelligence input about the militant attack in the Jammu region, said the source.
Six persons, including two children, were killed and many more injured in two separate attacks in Upper Dangri village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Sunday evening and Monday morning.
In the latest attack, two children were killed and several others injured after a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast took place in Rajouri’s Upper Dangri village on Monday morning.
ADGP Mukesh Singh cautioned people as another suspected IED was spotted in the area near Upper Dangri village, which is about eight kilometres from Rajouri town.
Officials said that the explosion took place near the house where four civilians were killed and many more injured by militants in a shooting incident on Sunday evening.
Nearly a dozen people were reportedly injured in the two attacks by the militants since Sunday evening. The injured were being treated in Jammu hospital.
In the first attack, two armed militants barged into three homes separated by a distance of around 50 metres from each other on Sunday evening and opened indiscriminate fire. The attack led to the killing of four civilians and injuries to six others.
These separate attacks are the third such incidents of civilian killings in the Rajouri district in the past two weeks after two people were killed outside an Army camp on December 16.
The attack has sparked panic in the district. Several organisations have called for a strike today to protest against the incident and demand swift action.
Army and the CRPF have launched a massive search operation to nab the two “armed men” behind the attack at Upper Dangri village. (Agencies)
