Jammu:
Three militants in combat uniform struck terror in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, killing three persons, including a soldier, in separate attacks. All the three militants were killed in a gun-battle with security forces that went on for several hours.
At around 5 am, the heavily armed militants allegedly stopped a Mahindra Bolero car on the Jammu-Pathankote highway and fired indiscriminately at the passengers, killing one of them. Three others were wounded.
The militants got into the car and surfaced a little later near at the army's "Rocket Regiment" camp close to the international border with Pakistan, where they fired at army men. One soldier was killed and two injured.
The driver of the car they hijacked was found dead in the evening with his throat slit.
Police suspect the militants had sneaked into India recently as part of a plan to carry out attacks ahead of India's national election next month.
The site where they struck is near Hiranagar, where a police station was attacked in September last year by three militants, believed to be from Pakistan. A top army officer was among 11 killed in that attack.
Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, had addressed a rally in Hiranagar on Wednesday. The police say there were alerts about a possible terror attack in the area.
Kathua district is a part of the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency where Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is fighting the election.