Hyder Ali
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Feb 23: Even as the fierce 3-day gunfight in the Saffron town of Pampore ended on Monday when all the three militants were finally neutralized, the intelligence agencies have started probing if the trio had already stocked their ammunition and were equally well versed with the EDI building, wherefrom they gave a "tough-fight."
Security forces lost five personnel, including two Army captains in one of the deadliest encounters in the past over a decade of Fidayeen attacks in Kashmir Valley. Official sources said it was literally impossible for three militants to have given so much of resistance with mere backpacks of stocks with them, and unless they were well-versed with the interiors.
On February 20, after opening fire on a CRPF convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu highway, that left two CRPF jawans dead and over a dozen injured, the militants had sneaked into the nearby EDI complex, a concrete six storey structure.
The militants had asked the employees at the building to leave the office even as they themselves took positions at advantageous heights. The employees were, however, asked to leave behind their belongings particularly mobile phones.
The scared staff had taken shelter in one of the nearby buildings while security forces laid cordon around the campus spanning over 15 acres of the highlands near the banks of Jhelum.
The civilians were subsequently evacuated in a joint operation by police and CRPF. But one of the staffers, Abdul Gani Mir, a gardener got killed during the evacuation when bullet hit his abdomen.
On the other hand, having seen the armed-guerrillas equipped with backpacks, the security forces had thought this much of ammunition wouldn't last beyond few hours.
As the gunfire erupted between the two sides, hundreds of bullets were peppered within hours while an equally big number of explosives like grenades were traded.
By midnight sources said there was a lull and the Army, which was leading the operation though that the militants might be running out of ammunition stock.
A group of elite Para Troopers led by Captain Pawan Kumar, a 23-year-old officer stormed the main building past midnight around 2:00 AM.
Bullets and explosives again rained from both sides. Captain Kumar was critically injured and succumbed to injuries.
Till next afternoon there was another huge exchange of gunfire. Hoping that the militants could be exhausted, Army again stormed the building.
This time, Captain Tushar Mahajan, 26, a resident of Jammu's Udhampur, was hit by a volley of bullets while mop-up operations were being conducted at the third floor of the building were the militants were holed up.
This time, after the second casuality, the Army, as per its officers, changed the strategy and decided not to hurry. "But there was no weakening of gunfire from the militants," the sources said.
"It was a clear cut indication that they had enough of ammunition and other stock dumped in the building that they voluntarily sneaked into it, otherwise they could have even run away," said a retired police official well-versed with the modus-operandi of militant attacks.
Finally, on the third day, the security forces perceived that the militants had enough of stocks. This could be felt in the statement made by the Army.
On February 22 afternoon Army said it was in no hurry to flush out the militants. The General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Lt Gen Satish Dua, told reporters, "There is no time limit. There is no hurry. Our main purpose is to make sure that we do not have any more casualties. We will take as long as it takes to clear the building." The army commander said the EDI is a vast campus and it requires specialised forces to clear the holed-up militants.
While the intelligence agencies have been believing that the militants might already have done recce of the building, the dumping of ammunition prior to the deadly strike has added another curious chapter to this militant attack.
"How and when they must have stocked it. And how the building was recced, this all needs to be probed," the sources said.
A senior official said the security forces including police were working on all the aspects of the case. He said apart from police, the CRPF was also investigating the matter at its own level. |
