Author: Excelsior Correspondent
Publication: The Daily Excelsior
Date: February 6, 2002
URL: http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/02feb06/news.htm#6
After killing the terrorist involved
in the massacre of 11 civilians including eight children at village Behra
Kund in Salwa area of Mendhar tehsil, the ultras last night torched three
houses which belonged to slain terrorist's father and his two brothers.
Besides, eight other houses, previously
occupied by army, were also set ablaze by the terrorists at village Marha
in Chandi Marh area of Surankot last mid-night.
According to official reports, the
terrorists descended on the village Behra Kund in Salwa area of Mendhar
tehsil late last night and set on fire three houses of Mohd Sharief, an
ex-serviceman and father of slain terrorist Mohd Najeem alias Nadeem, Mohd
Anwar and Mohd Taj, the uncles of Nadeem.
All three brothers-Mohd Sharief,
Mohd Anwar and Mohd Taj were in police custody. They had been arrested
immediately after the massacre of 11 civilians including eight children
and a woman and injuries to three others including a pregnant woman at
Behra Kund on the intervening night of January 20 and 21.
Bullet-riddled body of the terrorist
Nadeem was found in Salwa forests the next night. He was reported to have
been eliminated by his fellow terrorists, who too were locals, to ensure
that their identity was not exposed with the arrest of Nadeem, for whom
army and police had launched a massive search operation after the massacre.
Reports said the houses of three
brother including Nadeem's father were reported to have been burnt by the
same group of terrorists (who had gunned down Nadeem) to win sympathies
of the local people, who had deadly turned against Nadeem and his family
in view of the brutal killings of eight children and a woman.
A police party from Mendhar police
station visited the village Behras Kund this morning to assess the damage
caused due to the burning of three houses. Reports said that the houses
had already been deserted by the families in the aftermath of the massacre
as they too feared threat to their lives by the local people as well as
the terrorists.
However, the household goods in
the house were reduced to ashes in the fire. The terrorists had escaped
after setting the houses on fire.
In another incident, the terrorists
burnt eight houses in Marha village near Chandi Marh in Bafliaz area of
Surankot last night. The houses had been abandoned by army last month while
moving towards the Line of Control (LoC) due to intensified border skirmishes
between Indo-Pak troops.
The burnt houses belonged to Abdul
Rashid son of Lal Din, Mohd Rafiq Son of Abdul Aziz, Feroz Din son of Qadir,
Abdul Rashid son of Feroz Din, Ghulam Hussain son of Noor Din, Kala, Nasir
Ali and Lal Din all sons of Ditta.
An approximated 40 houses, vacated
by the troops, had so far been burnt by the terrorists in the border districts
of Poonch and Rajouri during last one month, the reports said.
The houses were reduced to a rubble
while there were no casualties as the civilians were not present in the
house.