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| Terror attack martyrs 44 CRPF men at Lethpora | | Explosive laden vehicle rammed into convoy on Srinagar-Jammu national highway | |  Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Feb 14: In the bloodiest ever militant attack during the three decade long militancy in Kashmir valley, 44 personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were martyred while as some others sustained injuries after a Fidayeen attack at Lethpora (Awantipora) in Pulwama.
Reports said that a militant rammed an explosive laden vehicle into the bus of CRPF convoy at Lethpora on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. The CRPF vehicle was part of the 78 vehicles convoy that was heading towards Srinagar from Jammu. More than 2500 CRPF personnel were moving in the CRPF convoy. The impact of the blast was such that the bus was reduced to pieces.
As the convoy reached Lethpora a vehicle driven by Adil Ahmad Dar of Kakapora rammed into the CRPF bus causing fatal injuries to dozens of CRPF personnel. Adil was said to be a cadre of banned militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and he had in fact recorded a video in which he had said that he is going to carry out the Fidayeen attack. The video has gone viral on social networking sites.
The incident took place at around 3:15 PM and within no time the bodies of the CRPF personnel were seen lying scattered on the highway. The CRPF jawans informed their higher ups about the incident and ambulances were rushed to the spot in order to evacuate the dead and injured to the hospital. The injured personnel were shifted to 92 Base Hospital at Badamibagh, Srinagar.
The sound of the blast was so loud that it was heard in many areas of Srinagar falling at the fringe end of summer capital district of Jammu & Kashmir. People living in areas like Nowgam, Chanapora, Sanat Nagar, Rawalpora, Hyderpora and adjacent ones came out of their houses after hearing the blast. These people thought that a strong magnitude earthquake has taken place and as such they came out fearing for their lives.
Director General CRPF R R Bhatnagar said that one of the buses that was part of the convoy bore the brunt of Fidayeen attack at Lethpora. He said the convoy was moving towards Srinagar from Jammu adding that 2500 CRPF personnel were part of the convoy.
Inspector General of Police, Swayam Prakash Pani said that the investigations have been ordered in the incident adding that Road Opening Party (ROP) was very much present there at the time of incident. Pani said that ROP is posted in order to ensure that the convoy passes off without any incident.
"At the moment we are looking at the various angles relating to the incident. The ROP was present at the place where the incident took place. The probe will be carried out in a thorough professional manner so that the real details come out about the incident," said the IGP.
Following the blast, traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway came to standstill and it remained suspended when last reports came in. Security forces launched cordon and search operation in the entire area immediately after the blast. Forensic experts have taken samples even as investigations have been set into motion. It is not clear as such which vehicle was used in the blast.
A police spokesman said that police in police district Awantipora today attended a gruesome terror crime spot at Ladhu Mode Lethpora at about 1515 hours following an explosion by militants targeting a security forces' convoy travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.
"One vehicle which was part of the convoy carrying CRPF personnel bore the brunt of the blast resulting in multiple casualties. Exact number of casualties is being ascertained. So far 33 fatal causalities have been confirmed. Injured have been shifted to hospitals for medical treatment," said the spokesman.
Police has registered a case in the matter. Officers investigating this terror crime are at work to establish the full circumstances which led to the blast.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Jammu & Kashmir Governor, Satya Pal Malik, Peoples Democratic Party President, Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference Vice President, Omar Abdullah and many other national as well as state leaders have condemned the militant fidayeen attack.
In the meantime, following the incident Home Minister is expected to visit Srinagar on Friday and assess the overall situation. The Home Minister is expected to talk to the top brass of the various security agencies about the blast and issue directions to these security agencies in order to ensure that such incidents do not take place in future. |
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