Irked by enthusiasm around DCC polls in J&K, Pak planned massive attack in Nagrota

New Delhi, Nov 21: The terrorists who were gunned down in an encounter at Nagrota, Jammu and Kashmir earlier this week had plans of disrupting the district development council (DDC) elections.

The decision by India to hold these elections had irked Pakistan due to which the ISI along with the Jaish-e-Mohammad planned a major attack to disrupt the elections. Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that they were planning a strike on the anniversary of the 26/11 attacks. Their intention was also to derail the election process.

The IB officer also said that Pakistan had planned a series of propaganda activities in the Valley, but were not getting the desired results. The fact that the security forces had gunned down a large number of terrorists had also derailed Pakistan's agenda.

The officer cited above said that the very fact that there is such enthusiasm among the political class to take part in the elections also did not bode well with Pakistan. Looking the seizures in Nagrota, it is clear that something really big was planned. Had the four JeM terrorists managed to get away, an unthinkable catastrophe would have taken place, the officer also said.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, foreign secretary and top intelligence officials following the killing of four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists at Nagrota.

The terrorists killed in the encounter on Thursday came in a truck in which it was written, 'death keeps no calendar.' The investigations showed that the truck bore a fake registration number.

The gun battle started at around 5 am near the toll plaza in the Ban area of Nagrota on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Thursday. Jammu district police chief SSP Shridhar Patil said that around 5 AM some terrorists opened fire at security forces near Ban Toll Plaza in Nagrota area.

"Four terrorists have been neutralised and one police constable injured in an encounter at Ban Toll Plaza Jammu with Police, CRPF and Army. Area is being sanitised," the police said.

The terrorists were carrying a huge cache of arms, ammunition. They were on the verge of executing a big plan, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Mukesh Singh said. Singh also said that the truck driver is absconding and the police has launched a manhunt for him. It is possible that they were planning a big attack.

Singh also said that the kind of seizure is unprecedented and it is possible that they were planning to target the DDC elections. However, investigations are still on, he had said.

Following the operation, 11 AK-47s rifles, 3 pistols, 29 grenades and other devices were recovered. Singh also said that during a routine check, a truck was intercepted at 5 am.

The driver of the truck fled, Singh said while adding that the terrorists opened heavy fire and also lobbed grenades. More forces were called in and grenades were lobbed too, he further said.