Search operations called off after Baramulla attack, militants escape

Militants used grenades and heavy automatic gunfire as cover while trying to enter the army camp at Janbazpora

A massive search operation to hunt down the militants involved in an army camp attack in Kashmir's Baramulla town was called off on October 3 morning, officials said.

The search operation, which lasted for more than six hours, was launched soon after a two-hour gunfight ensued outside the camp of the counter-insurgency 46 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) branch in Janbazpora, a senior police officer said. The attack that was launched in the thick of the night on October 2 by a group of heavily armed guerrillas.

"After six hours, the search operation was called off and traffic restored in the area," he said.

A Border Security Force (BSF) constable, Nitin Kumar, was killed, while another constable, Parminder, got injured in the exchange of fire that stopped late at night..

"The two troopers got suspicious of some movement. When they tried to find out the cause, they were fired upon by militants using grenade-launchers. One of the grenades exploded, seriously injuring Nitin," BSF's Kashmir Frontier Inspector General, Vikash Chandra, told Times Now.

Parminder sustained leg injuries. Despite his injuries, Constable Nitin fired at least 20 rounds while Parminder fired 48 rounds.

"Nitin Kumar succumbed to injuries in a hospital. But we repulsed the attack," the IG said.

"We have seized a wire cutter, which points towards the terrorists' intention. They should ideally have been killed, but they escaped due to darkness and ground conditions," the BSF officer said.

The forces are on high alert to face any eventuality, he said.

Police said that 'fidayeen' militants attacked the army camp outpost at around 10.30 p.m.

"They used grenades and heavy automatic gunfire as cover in their attempt to enter the camp," the senior police officer said.

"They first attacked the camp outpost guarded by the BSF but were thwarted by the security forces."

The attack on the 46 RR camp comes in the wake of the Indian Army's surgical strikes on September 29 across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the killing of 19 soldiers by four terrorists in the garrison town of Uri in Baramulla district on September 18.