New Delhi: The death toll in the January 1 killings in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri has risen to seven with one more civilian succumbing to injuries at a hospital in Jammu on Sunday, officials said, as reported by PTI.
According to the report, the victim, identified as Prince Sharma, reportedly died at the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital, where he was shifted for specialised treatment along with several others after getting critically injured in the firing by terrorists in Dhangri village.
As the body of the deceased reached his home in the afternoon in the terror-hit village, the locals, led by Sarpanch Dheeraj Sharma, urged that the probe be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
“We appeal to Home Minister (Amit Shah) to hand over this case to the NIA immediately…We will not cremate the boy till our demand for NIA probe is met,” sarpanch Sharma told reporters at Dhangri.
Here's what we know so far:
- The sarpanch said they have demanded a permanent Army camp in the village but authorities have assigned the task of guarding the village to CRPF personnel.
- The Indian Army today neutralised two terrorists who were involved in the January 1 killing of seven civilians in Rajouri.
- White Knight Corps of the Indian Army informed on Sunday on Twitter, "Operations to nab terrorists involved in the Dhangri attack continue. Alert troops deployed on the border fence in Balakot detected and neutralised two terrorists so far."
- The attacks in the village had left six people, including Sharma's elder brother Deepak Kumar dead. While four persons were killed and six others injured in the terrorist firing on January 1, two cousins were killed and nine other persons were injured in a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the village the next morning. The IED was planted by terrorists before fleeing.
- According to an ANI report, while four people were gunned down on January 1 evening, two children were killed, and several others injured after a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast occurred in the same vicinity in Rajouri's Upper Dhangri village on January 2 morning.
- The Union Home Ministry had issued an order to deploy an additional 18 companies to Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the civilian killings in the Rajouri district.
Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha earlier condemned the terror attack in Rajouri and announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh and a government job would be given to the next of kin of each of those civilians martyred. The seriously injured would be given Rs 1 lakh.
- A massive search operation is on to neutralise the terrorists behind the attack, officials said.
(With inputs from agencies)