- Man reportedly commits suicide to avoid police questioning in Army vehicle attack
- Cordon & search operation to be extended to large areas
Shyam Sood
Rajouri, April 27: On the 8th day of the gruesome terror attack on the Army truck near Bhata Dhurian village, in which 5 soldiers attained martyrdom and one was injured, Security Forces continued massive cordon & search operation to eliminate perpetrators responsible for the attack.
But till the filing of this report, no contact was established with the terrorists despite the fact that the Special Forces engaged in the searches are taking the help of drones, sniffer dogs, and helicopters.
Meanwhile, 45-year-old Mukhtar Shah s/o Fazal Shah resident of village Bhata Dhurian allegedly consumed poison to avoid questioning by police in connection with the April 20 terror attack.
Before consuming the poison, Mukhtiar in a viral video on social media platforms gave a clean chit to SFs & police for no harassment on their part and also expressed his condolence over the death of five soldiers.
He also appealed to the villagers and family members to extend every support to SFs in their fight against terrorism and also appealed to the SFs not to harass his brothers/ family members for attack on army vehicle.
Mukhtar was rushed to GMC hospital in Rajouri by family members/ relatives on Wednesday at about 5.30 pm and at about 12.45 am (Thursday) he died.
Family members alleged he consumed poison because he was summoned by the police for questioning as a suspect.
While on the other hand, police said that he was summoned like other residents of Bhata Dhurian village for routine questioning because the Army’s truck was ambushed by the terrorists on the Jammu-Poonch highway near Bhata Dhurian village.
It was also claimed that Mukhtar took the extreme step as he was facing domestic issues.
More than fifty suspects, Involved in helping the terrorists during their stay in the area (Bhata Dhurian and adjoining areas) have been rounded up by the police/SFs for questioning.
According to unconfirmed reports, one among the detained has admitted to providing shelter to terrorists involved in the attack on an Army truck for about two months besides other support.
It is expected that senior Police and Army officers may brief the media in this connection at Rajouri soon.
Additional Forces have been rushed to Rajouri & Poonch for deployment in those areas from where the Army (RR) was withdrawn following peace in these areas.
After the deployment of additional forces, massive search and cordon operations would be extended to many areas in both the border districts of Rajouri & Poonch to flush out the terrorists active in these districts.
