Eight civilians die in Pak firing

Two women and a man died in Rajouri district, while an 18-year-old girl was killed in Ramgarh when a Pakistani mortar exploded in her kitchen when she was cooking for her family.

A 65-year-old man died of shock when a shell burst near him.

Another 22 people were wounded, among them three army porters and a year-old baby who suffered grave shrapnel wounds in the spine.

At least 18 people have been killed and more than 80 were wounded in Pakistani shelling since the “surgical strikes”.

Sources said the Pakistani army has deployed reinforcements from 12 Mujahideen Battalion, 14 Okra Infantry and 19 Mangla Infantry close to the LoC to help the Pakistan Rangers. the circumstances of the killings.

For instance, hours before police gunned down the eight men and recovered a sharp weapon they allegedly used to kill the prison guard, Indian media was already reporting on the exact nature of the “knife”.

Quoting police sources, those reports said the sharp weapon was fashioned out of spoons and plates. Three hours later one of the purported videos of the encounter showed policemen recovering a sharp metallic object from one of the dead men.

The so-called weapon fitted the description of the “knife” earlier reported by TV channels, raising questions over how police knew the “knife” had been made out of kitchen utensils even before recovering it.

Neither has police offered any explanation on why the prisoners chose to scale a stretch of the perimeter wall that was next to a watch tower manned by two sentries roundthe-clock.

The surveillance cameras in the jail’s B block, where the SIMI men were lodged, weren’t working either. Police also didn’t find any spent cartridges at the ‘encounter’ site, though they claimed the SIMI men had fired at them. The purported ‘encounter’ videos showed little blood on the eight bodies.

State police spokesman Pradeep Bhatia did not respond to calls and text messages.

So far, four officials, including the prison’s superintendent, have been suspended.

State chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters the breakout posed a threat to national security and authorities swiftly mobilised all law enforcement arms to track the fugitives.

“I am pained to see the kind of politics being played out. Some politicians are turning a blind eye to the sacrifices of the martyrs,” Chouhan said after visiting the home of the slain prison guard, Ramashankar Yadav.

“Certain politicians are making a hue and cry for these terrorists but not lending a word of solace for the martyred jawans.”

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, however, raised questions over the encounter and sought an independent probe.

WITH INPUTS FROM RAJESH AHUJA AND KALYAN DAS