Militants kill journalist, jawan among 4 in Jammu

Jammu, May 11 (UNI) Four people, including a photojournalist and army jawan, were killed and as many wounded in an ongoing encounter between militants and security forces at Kaili Mandi in Samba district in Jammu and Kashmir today.

The encounter has raised a question on the BSF's claim to have foiled a ''major infiltration bid'' from the International Border nearby, in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday night.

A small group of two to three militants stormed a house of one Hoshiar Singh, an Indian Democratic Party leader in Rakh Amb Tali village near Kaili Mandi this morning and shot at the people inside.

While Hoshiar and his wife succumbed to wounds, their two family members were shifted in critical condition to the government medical college and hospital, Jammu, sources said.

The militants were in army's combat dress and carrying latest telescopic weapons and big bags, the villagers said.

The gunshots created panic in the area and villagers took out their licensed guns to take on the militants, who took refuge inside another house in Kaili Mandi.

Security forces immediately swung into action and launched a massive operation. Troops cordoned off the house from where the militants were firing.

The militants captured some people, including children, as hostages inside the house as the operation was still in progress.

''At least four people, including two children and a woman, are inside the house as they (militants) are intermittently firing,'' an official source from the encounter site told UNI.

Mr Ashok Sodhi, a chief photographer of the Daily Excelsior, a Jammu-based leading english newspaper of Jammu and Kashmir, also fell prey to the bullets while covering the operation. He was the first journalist from Jammu region to be killed during the 18 years of insurgency in the state.

An army jawan also died in the gunbattle with the militants while major Mukul Chouhan and another sepoy were wounded, an official spokesman said.

The BSF on Friday, had claimed to have foiled a major infiltration attempt of militants from 6-R post at Banghalar area near international border in Samba district.

However, other security agencies, suspecting infiltration into the Indian side, were conducting searches in the bordering district.

A huge quantity of ammunition and explosives, including 10 kg RDX powder, 135 AK ammunition, 111 pika rounds, three UBGL grenades, two detonators and a radio set were recovered from the Suchani forests of Samba.

During his visit to Srinagar on May 7, Chief of army staff Gen Deepak Kapoor had also suspected escalation in terrorist activities in the state after melting of snow in the mountains along the Line of Control.

UNI VJ BDP HT1352