File photo
New Delhi:
About three weeks ago, eight army jawans were gunned down by two terrorists on the outskirts of Srinagar, a day before the Prime Minister visited the Valley.
The soldiers, moving in a convoy of three vehicles from Srinagar back to their unit posted in Badgaon, faced a barrage of bullets for about 10 minutes. New details accessed by NDTV reveal that even basic security guidelines were totally ignored.
Twenty four jawans, unarmed because they were returning from vacation, were placed in the second truck, and were headed out of the city at about 4.30 pm.
As they were passing through the major Hyderpora intersection, the two militants stepped in front of the second vehicle, forcing it to stop.
The first vehicle, which was also carrying 24 people, had moved ahead, violating the guidelines for how closely the different vehicles of an army convoy should move.
The terrorists first opened fire on the driver and the armed escort who was sitting next to him. Both died immediately. The pair of terrorists then walked to the rear of the stalled vehicle and climbed on board, lobbing grenades. Then, the terrorists, each armed with an AK-47, shot at the soldiers seated at the back.
The third vehicle of the convoy could not reach the location of the attack. Sources say it's likely that it was stuck in traffic.
Although there was a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force check post about 100 metre away from the ambush site, nobody moved to intervene in the attack. It's not clear why.
The terrorists then left the area, grabbed a motorcycle parked nearby, and drove through an armed check post, lobbing a grenade and killing one man on duty there.
A black Santro was waiting for them.
The entire attack lasted 30 minutes, sources said, but the local police, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Army all failed to send basic assistance to help the trapped jawans. The first response to the attack came after 30 minutes.
The soldiers, moving in a convoy of three vehicles from Srinagar back to their unit posted in Badgaon, faced a barrage of bullets for about 10 minutes. New details accessed by NDTV reveal that even basic security guidelines were totally ignored.
Twenty four jawans, unarmed because they were returning from vacation, were placed in the second truck, and were headed out of the city at about 4.30 pm.
As they were passing through the major Hyderpora intersection, the two militants stepped in front of the second vehicle, forcing it to stop.
The first vehicle, which was also carrying 24 people, had moved ahead, violating the guidelines for how closely the different vehicles of an army convoy should move.
The terrorists first opened fire on the driver and the armed escort who was sitting next to him. Both died immediately. The pair of terrorists then walked to the rear of the stalled vehicle and climbed on board, lobbing grenades. Then, the terrorists, each armed with an AK-47, shot at the soldiers seated at the back.
The third vehicle of the convoy could not reach the location of the attack. Sources say it's likely that it was stuck in traffic.
Although there was a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force check post about 100 metre away from the ambush site, nobody moved to intervene in the attack. It's not clear why.
The terrorists then left the area, grabbed a motorcycle parked nearby, and drove through an armed check post, lobbing a grenade and killing one man on duty there.
A black Santro was waiting for them.
The entire attack lasted 30 minutes, sources said, but the local police, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Army all failed to send basic assistance to help the trapped jawans. The first response to the attack came after 30 minutes.
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