Author: Mukhtar Ahmad In Srinagar
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: May 1, 2006
URL: http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/01jk.htm
At least 22 Hindu villagers were killed and
eight others critically wounded in a militant massacre in village Kalhan in
Doda district of Jammu region.
A senior police officer told rediff.com that
a group of heavily armed militants swooped in on Kalhan late Sunday night
and gathered the Hindu villagers in the house of the village headman.
"The militants opened indiscriminate
fire at the unarmed villagers huddled inside the house. 22 villagers died
on the spot while eight others were critically wounded. The injured have been
airlifted to Jammu for specialised treatment," Jammu range police chief
inspector general of police Dr S P Vaid said.
He said troops of 8 Rashtriya Rifles and police
have reached the spot and a massive hunt has been launched to hunt down the
killers.
High tension gripped Doda and adjoining areas as the news about the killings
spread on Monday morning. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the
massacre.
The killings came hours after police found
the bodies of four abducted villagers at Basantgrah in neighbouring Udhampur
district Sunday afternoon.
Condemning the strike, Deputy Chief Minister
of Jammu and Kasmhir Muzaffar Baig said the attack was against the Indo-Pak
peace process. "By singling out Hindus for such a major massacre, they
are sending a message to the entire Indian nation that this exercise (peace
process) undertaken by the government is futile," he said.
It was also aimed at spoiling the environment
for the second roundtable conference convened by the prime minister later
this month, he added.
Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash
Jaiswal said in Delhi that the attack was born out of frustration by the militants
over Jammu and Kashmir's gradual return to normalcy. The last major attack
against minorities in the state was in 2003, when militants gunned down 24
Kashmiri Pundits in Nadimarg village near Shopian in Pulwama district.
With PTI inputs
