JAMMU, Jan 30: Seven Muslims, including a woman and a child, were killed today after a joint search party of the Army and police fired on angry villagers at Malang village in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, about 250 kms from here.Official sources said the firing was done in "self defence" when a group of villagers resisted combing operations and tried to snatch the weapons of the police and Army personnel. Three Armymen, including a Subedar and two jawans, were injured when the villagers threw stones, sources said.
Minister of State for Home Ali Mohd Sagar told The Indian Express that he and the state DGP would visit the village tomorrow. He added that the toll could be higher as details were not available due to heavy snowfall in the area.
According to the sources, the Army received information from a local police sub-inspector, Bashir Khan, about some militants having assembled in the village to celebrate Id.
Accordingly, three columns of Army troops and policemen rushed to the area andbegan combing operations. One of the Army columns first searched Wang village and went towards Malang in search of the militants. However, local villagers resisted the searches, saying there were no militants hiding there.
As the combing party insisted on searching the village, the villagers started pelting stones. Meanwhile, a group of about 100 people, who had just come out of a mosque after offering Id prayers, also started throwing stones at the Armymen from behind.
Caught in between, the troops fired some warning shots in the air. But the crowd continued to close in and allegedly attempted to snatch their weapons. The jawans then opened fire. Seven villagers were killed on the spot and many were injured. Although senior Army and district officials rushed to the village, none was available for comment.
Today's incident, comes barely days after the massacre of 23 Kashmiri Pandits by militants at Wandhama in the Ganderbal area of the Kashmir Valley, and has cast a shadow over the February 16 Lok Sabhapolls in the state.
Blast case solved
ANANTNAG: Police today arrested two top militants and claimed to have solved the bomb blast at the high-security MLA hostel in Srinagar last year.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
