Poonch ambush: Security forces release sketches of two terrorists, search op on

Our Correspondent

Jammu, May 6

Even as large scale searches continued in the Shahsitar area of Poonch district after an Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy came under attack on May 4, the terrorists behind the ambush seem to have given a slip to the security forces. One IAF personnel had been killed in the attack and four others injured.

While enforcements were sent that cordoned off the area, the terrorists have apparently vanished in the woods as no contact has so far been established with them. The IAF vehicles were headed towards Sanai Top in Surankote area when the attack took place.

Security forces on Monday released sketches of two terrorists responsible for the attack on IAF vehicles.

An official said, “The police have detained around 20 people for questioning so far. A group of two to three terrorists are believed to have carried out the attack.”

Senior Army and police officials are now camping in the area and overseeing the search operations, which are being done with the help of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and sniffer dogs. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), J&K police and Army are collaborating in the search operation in the region known for its dense forest.

Several persons, including Over Ground Workers (OGWs), have been detained in the region and are being questioned regarding the terrorists behind the attack. Name of an ultra, Sajid Jutt, alias Habibullah Malik, has surfaced in the attack. Jutt originally hails from Kasur in Pakistan and is member of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He is suspected to be the brain behind similar ambushes in Rajouri and Poonch in past one year.

Sources in the Army intelligence said all ambushes had same pattern, besides the use of similar weapons. “In all attacks, the military convoys were moving in dense forest areas along the hill side. The point of attack chosen by terrorists had narrow roads so that there was little scope for the vehicles to escape. The area where attacks took place had road with many turns so that the driver could not see presence of terrorists,” a source said.

Sources said such attacks were not possible without military grade training. “It is believed that these terrorists are being given training in Pakistan occupied areas of Poonch, which have similar topography on this side of the LoC,” the source added.

On being asked how these Pakistani ultras vanish after ambushes, he said either local OGWs were helping them or they possessed GPS devices to guide them.

Questions are now being raised by many quarters that such attacks were taking place despite heavy presence of security forces in the region for Lok Sabha poll.

The terrorists had escaped in a similar manner after an attack on an Army convoy on Surankote-Thanamandi road in Poonch district on December 21 last year, in which four soldiers were killed. On April 20 last year, five soldiers were killed in ambush at Bhatta Dhurian in Poonch in a similar manner. (With Agency inputs)

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