Three weeks after a terror attack at army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri, terrorists on Sunday attempted to strike Army-BSF camp in Baramulla.
The attempt by the terrorists was thwarted by the BSF in which a para-military jawan lost his life.
Although the terrorists were pushed back, confusion prevailed whether any one of them was killed in the process.
Senior para-military officials today described the attack as a 'shoot and scoot' strike by terrorists.
Here is the complete detail of the attack which was thwarted due to extraordinary bravery shown by a BSF jawan.
BSF’s 40th battalion personnel Constable Nitin Kumar and constable Varun Kumar were on the sentry duty with LMG (Light Machine Gun) and INSAS rifles in Stadium Colony area of Baramulla.
Constable Nitin Kumar spotted some suspicious movement near the open kitchen area and directed his searchlight towards the movement. In response, he faced burst fire which hit him in thighs, elbow and lower abdomen.
In retaliation, both personnel started firing from their INSAS rifles, apprehending that terrorists may have entered into the camp. Constable Varun Kumar fired 46 rounds while Nitin fired 20 rounds.
In all this, all personal of Stadium Colony post came into action and started taking position. While running towards his position, constable Pulwinder was hit with a bullet in his leg.
Terrorists used Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) to fire 10 rounds.
The firing led to panic in adjacent army camp where troops of 46 Rashtriya Rifles also started firing in the direction in which suspected terrorists were believed to have entered.
Firing continued from all sides and it was not clear whether some terrorists had entered the campus or firing was coming from outside. After 90 minutes of firing, illuminators were used to light up the sky but no terrorist was found, the sources said.
Security officials said the terrorists melted into darkness.
Injured BSF constables Nitin and Pulwinder were rushed to the hospital in Srinagar. Nitin later succumbed to his injuries.
It was not immediately known whether the BSF personnel was killed by the terrorists or had fallen victim to 'friendly fire' as all security establishments have been directed to be on a high alert after the Indian army carried out surgical strikes on launch pads across the Line of Control on September 29.
Official response
Udhampur-based Northern Command had tweeted a little after midnight only that "Baramulla incident situation contained and under control".
Surprisingly, Home Ministry spokesman had claimed in the morning that two terrorists had been shot dead but this was corroborated neither by army, BSF or the local police.
The spokesman later said that the report of the killing of two terrorists was a "claim" and it was being "verified".
Union minister Hansraj Ahir today said it would be improper to say that no terrorist was killed in retaliation by the security forces.
"It has also come to light that some militants have also been killed, but this is being verified. However, it would be improper to say that no terrorists
were killed in retaliation. Search is on. There is a possibility that terrorists may have fled taking their accomplice along with them," the Minister of State for Home Affairs said.
BSF Inspector General (Kashmir) Vikash Chandra told PTI that at least two terrorists were involved in the attack and the security forces recovered a GPS set, a compass and a wire cutter besides some ammunition this morning after a search was launched near the camp on the banks of the Jhelum river.
"My boys from the spot have confirmed that there were at least two terrorists who were firing at them. There could be few more terrorists, may be two more, but that is not confirmed as of now," he said.
Chandra said the firing started about 10:30 PM last night after the BSF men detected some "suspicious movement" in the vicinity of their camp that they shared with the 46 Rashtriya Rifles of the army.
"Our camp is co-located with the RR. The boys on sentry duty detected suspicious movements and when fire came in they came out of the bunker to effectively take on the terrorists," he said, and claimed that Nitin was grievously injured when a grenade lobbed by terrorists hit him.
According to Chandra, the terrorists melted into the darkness and a search operation is on.
Recoveries
Security forces have recovered a Taiwan-made Global Positioning System (GPS) from the location. A wire-cutter, presumably used to cut the fencing, has also been found.
