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Times News Network and Agencies
At least ten people, including four policemen, were killed and 21 injured when militants attacked the revered and crowded Raghunath temple here on Saturday morning.
Eye-witnesses said the militants arrived at the temple by a vehicle and opened indiscriminate fire, killing two policemen at the gate. They also lobbed a grenade before storming the shrine.
During their run through the temple, the terrorists wanted to gun down one of priests but ran out of ammunition. According to a priest, one of the terrorists blew himself up as police reinforcement arrived.
Police and CRPF personnel, along with some commandoes, challenged the militants, triggering a heavy exchange of fire in which two militants and two policemen were killed, official sources said.
Four civilians were also killed and several others injured in the attack. The injured have been admitted to the government medical college hospital here.
The entire area has been cordoned and a hunt is on to track down another militant believed to be hiding in the temple complex. Immediately after the attack, shops and other business establishments in the neighbourhood closed down. Angry protesters burnt down the car in which the militants were believed to have arrived.
No terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. A high alert has been sounded in the state. Incoming and outgoing vehicles are being thoroughly checked and the police have been asked to keep a close watch on anti-social elements to prevent the incident from taking on a communal colour.
On Friday, five army and BSF personnel were killed in two separate incidents in Jammu. Four terrorists were also gunned down in two separate encounters in the region. A village defence committee member participating in an operation was also killed. Terrorists also blasted four electric poles, cutting off power supply to several villages.
The previous night, terrorists had gunned down a constable and two civilians in their homes in three separate strikes. Terrorists also blew up an army vehicle with a remote-controlled improvised explosive device on the Mahore Chasana road in Udhampur district on Friday, killing two jawans on the spot and injuring another.
Terrorists attacked a BSF camp in
the Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district, killing three BSF personnel. Later
in the day, security forces gunned down two terrorists in an encounter
in the same tehsil, but it was not known if they were involved in the strike
on the BSF camp.
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