Laskhar kills 5 Hindus

JAMMU, NOV. 24. Striking in a big way in the run-up to the Centre's Ramazan ceasefire, militants of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e Taiba today shot dead five of the six Hindus they abducted in Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Police told PTI that the six Hindus, including a State Food and Supplies Department employee, were abducted from Tali Mohalla area of Kishtwar town by 10 Lashkar militants this evening.

Some of the victims were pulled out of a bus and the others were waiting at the bus stop. The six Hindus were separated from the Muslim passengers and were taken to a forest on the mountains three km away where five of them were shot dead. One of them managed to escape, the Additional Superintendent of Doda district, Mr. S.D. Singh, said.

The militants escaped leaving the bodies in a pool of blood and police recovered the bullet-riddled bodies.

They victims were identified as Bhushan Kumar, Santosh Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Ramesh and Roshan Lal.

Security forces have launched an operation to track down the militants. This is the second attack in three days on minorities in the State. On Wednesday, militants wearing Army uniform shot five truck drivers, four of them Sikhs, on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

Today's killings triggered tension in a locality of Kishtwar town where demonstrators raised slogans denouncing Pakistan and militants. Doda district authorities deployed paramilitary personnel in the communally-sensitive area.

In another incident, a jawan was killed in an encounter between the Army and militants at Markote in Surankote area of Jammu division.

Militants lobbed a grenade inside the headquarters of Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party led by Mr. Shabbir Ahmad Shah in Srinagar this afternoon but there was no casualty, a report said. Mr. Shah was not present in the office. Some party leaders had a narrow escape.

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