J&K - 3 personnel of the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) Martyred

[Hindustani78]

BSF jawans patrol the LoC near Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir. File photo

Jammu January 09, 2017 09:14 IST
Updated: January 09, 2017 17:50 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...attack-GREF-camp-in-Jammu/article17012429.ece


Incident fuels speculations of a cross-border raid coinciding with the State Assembly session.

Three personnel of the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) of the Border Roads Organisation were killed in an attack by miltants in the early hours of Monday on their camp near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu’s Akhnoor district.

As the attackers remain elusive, there was a speculation of a cross-border raid coinciding with the State Assembly session.

A senior police official said the attackers, whose numbers is not known, alighted in Battal area, which has both International Border (IB) as well as the closeby LoC, and attacked the camp.

The camp, housing around dozen GREF employees, is about 2 km away from the LoC.

“The area was cordoned off immediately. The attackers are still on the run,” said the police official.

All schools in the area were closed. Police said no eyewitness has come forward with any tip-off on the attackers.

In Assembly, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attack. “No one feels good over the killings. Everyone feels bad,” she said.

Where has the 56 inch chest gone missing?, says Oppn

Both lawmakers of the National Conference and the Congress created a ruckus in the Assembly over the attack, seeking a government response.

“Three jawans were killed and we do not know what happened. Where has the 56 inch chest gone missing? Was it just a militant attack or a surgical strike by Pakistan?” asked NC MLA Devinder Singh Rana.

Several BJP lawmakers raised slogans against Pakistan.

In 2015, there was a similar attack in Jammu when the Assembly session was on.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...hree-workers-in-attack-on-gref-camp-near-loc/
Written by Arun Sharma | Nadbehra | Updated: January 9, 2017 9:11 pm

Akhnoor has been put on high alert after the attack.(Source: ANI)

IN WHAT is being described as a major security lapse, at least two terrorists sneaked in nearly 2 km across the Line of Control (LoC), entered a General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) camp at Battal, killed three sleeping workers and escaped without facing any resistance early Monday. According to security sources, the terrorists doused the workers with fuel obtained from a GREF office nearby before setting them ablaze. Then, they fired at the bodies of the workers and some vehicles parked in the vicinity, said sources, adding that another worker was injured in the attack.

The attack — the first in the Jammu region this year — came only four days after the new Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had visited Akhnoor and Rajouri, and reviewed security and operational preparedness across the Northern Command theatre.

Police identified those killed as Ramesh Tapu of Jharkhand, and Salman Khan and Irshad Alam. Tapu had been working at GREF sites in the area over the last decade and was scheduled to return home this week to get married later in the month. Salman and Irshad had reached the camp only last week, sources said. The injured worker, Abdul Aziz of Partapgarh district, is undergoing treatment.

The GREF is the parent cadre force of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that builds and maintains border roads in the country. “The Manawar Tawi river, which flows from India to Pakistan, is nearly 500m ahead of the GREF camp. Across the river is a hill with an Indian outpost and the famous Katau temple on top. Troops keep vigil on the river from atop the hill but there is no patrol along the river banks. Taking advantage of the dense fog and chilly weather conditions, the terrorists may have sneaked in through Manwar Tawi, which has little water at present,” said sources.

Providing details of the attack, sources said that the terrorists reached the GREF camp at around 1 am. “The main gate had been damaged by a vehicle last week and there was no sentry on duty there. The terrorists targeted the first barrack near the gate, where four labourers engaged by the GREF were asleep. Ten others, all local residents, had gone home for the weekend. The terrorists did not notice another barrack nearby where over a dozen GREF employees were asleep, probably due to poor visibility,” said sources.

“Then, the terrorists moved towards Battal village and came across a water-point used by troops, where they threw a grenade and moved into the dense forests under cover of fog. Troops from an Artillery unit around 300m away fired in the air at around 4 am but the terrorists had escaped by then,” said sources.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt Colonel Manish Mehta said the area had been cordoned off and a search operation was in progress. SSP (Jammu) Dr Sunil Gupta, who visited the spot, said the possibility of the terrorists having already returned to Pakistan cannot be ruled out.

This was the first such attack by terrorists in the area. In 2010-11, a group of terrorists had taken some civilians from nearby Jogwan village hostage and asked them to chart the route to Rajouri. But some of those held captive escaped and the rest were later released unharmed.

© The Indian Express Online Media Pvt Ltd

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...one-lakh-to-family-of-three-deceased-4467949/
By: ANI | New Delhi | Published:January 10, 2017 4:04 pm
General Rawat also sanctioned Rs 25,000 to those injured in the attack that took place Monday.

A security checkpost at Jogwan near Battal, Monday. Source: Arun Sharma

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday sanctioned Rs one lakh each to kins of three labourers, who lost their lives in a terrorist attack on General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor region. General Rawat also sanctioned Rs 25,000 to those injured in the attack that took place Monday. Akhnoor has also been put on high alert after the attack.

“During the early hours of the night…at around 1:15 in the night a terrorist attack has taken place in the general area, Pattal. There are about 10 GREF personnel and about8-10 casual labourers hired by the GREF. The army is conducting its operations. The area has been cordoned off. The operations are presently going on,” Defence PRO Manish Mehta told ANI.

It was a GREF platoon located two kilometres from the Line of Control in Akhnoor.

The GREF is the parent cadre force of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that builds and maintains border roads in the country.

The attack on the GREF camp comes 40 days after terrorists attacked an army camp at Nagrota on November 30 last year.

 

[Director General]

RIP, poor civilian labourers murdered by terrorists.