Jammu: Terrorists Kill Four Hindus, Confirmed Religious Identity Before Opening Fire, Says Report

Six people including two children were killed in two separate terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two days.

Two children were killed and three were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Rajouri district, Jammu today (2 January), News18 has reported.

This is the second such attack that has taken place in a span of 24 hours in the district.

The police have cordoned off the entire area to nab the two terrorists who still remain at large.

Today’s IED blast took place close to the house of the victims of yesterday’s attack in Rajouri’s upper Dangri village. Two children are reported to be dead, and three are injured, said Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP).

On New Year’s eve, in the same area of the upper Dangri district, another targeted attack took place. Four people from the Hindu community were killed and six others were critically injured, said the police. 

According to a report in India Today, the terrorists “first confirmed the identity of the victims, through their Aadhaar cards” and then opened fire. 

Hindus living in the union territory have been targeted by terrorists in recent months, bringing back the memories of the killing of Kashmiri Pandits witnessed in the valley in the late 1980s and through the 1990s. 

Various eyewitness accounts say that armed terrorists came around 7pm and started firing at houses in the upper Dangri district. They fired at three houses, which were just 50 metres apart.

Four are confirmed dead, and two have been airlifted to Jammu for specialised treatment, Medical Superintendent of Government College (GMC) Rajouri, Dr Mehmoud H Bajar said.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has condemned the attacks and announced an ex-gratia of 10 lakh and government jobs for the kin of people who died in the attacks.

Some locals gathered around GMC Rajouri and protested against these incidents and asked for an impartial inquiry into the incident.

This incident comes barely two weeks after another incident where two civilians died outside an army camp. 

There was outrage over that incident and a tense atmosphere was prevailing in the town.