J-K: Terrorists attack bus carrying CISF personnel; One security force personnel killed, 9 injured

A bus carrying 15 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel going for morning shift duties was attacked by terrorists in Jammu early Friday. The incident occurred at about 4.25 AM near Chaddha Camp in Jammu. “CISF averted the terrorist attack, retaliated effectively, and forced the terrorists to run away,” according to reports .

Nine security personnel were also injured in the operation, they said.

The encounter in Sunjwan took place amid heightened security arrangements in Jammu and Kashmir, two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Samba district.

A senior official of the paramilitary force said the terrorists fired at the bus and lobbed grenades, killing Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) S P Patil and injuring two other occupants of the bus.

The force retaliated effectively, the officer said.

According to officials, after the attack on the CISF bus, the terrorists took shelter in the house of Mohd Anwar in the area and were eliminated.

In the ensuing operation, two terrorists were killed, a police officer said.

However, according to the police, the gunfight began when terrorists opened fire on a search party.

Additional Director General of Police of Jammu Mukesh Singh said the encounter started when the police’s Special Operations Group and the CRPF launched a joint search operation in the area.

“We had inputs about terrorists planning something (on the eve of the prime minister’s visit). A cordon was laid based on an input and the search party came under fire, resulting in the death of a security jawan and injuries to four others,” Singh, who rushed to the scene of the encounter, told reporters.

A total of nine security personnel, including two policemen, were injured and taken to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital, the officials said.

Mobile internet services were suspended and schools closed for the day in the vicinity of the encounter site as a precautionary measure, they said.

Earlier, the officials had said at least two heavily armed terrorists, likely belonging to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit, were believed to be trapped in a vicinity adjacent to the sprawling Sunjwan military station. They had apparently come to carry out a major strike in the city.