J&K: Families of Dhangri terror attack victims threaten to migrate to 'safer' place

Seven people, including two children, were killed while 14 others were injured in the attack

As security forces are yet to make a breakthrough in tracking down those involved in the Dhangri terror attacks, the family members of the victims have threatened to migrate from their village to a “safer” place.

Seven people, including two children, were killed while 14 others were injured after terrorists barged into five houses and fired indiscriminately on civilians on January 1 in Dhangri village of border Rajouri district on January 1 while an IED planted by them outside a house was triggered in the morning hours the next day.

Dozens of people were questioned by the police in connection with the gruesome incident. Nearly three months have passed and police and security forces are yet to trace the attackers. On Sunday, the government transferred senior superintendent police (SSP) Rajouri, Mohammad Aslam and posted Amritpal Singh as the new district police chief.

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Saroj Bala, whose two sons - Prince and Deepak - were killed in the barbaric attack, said if the government can’t provide her justice, it should “shoot me dead too.”

“We neither need jobs nor money. We want justice and it will happen only when terrorists and their supporters are punished. If they (government) don’t address our demand, we will all migrate from here (Dhangri),” she told reporters in Rajouri.

Flanked by fellow villagers, Bala said nearly three months have passed since the gruesome attack, and “there was no whereabouts of the terrorists involved.”

Also Read | J&K: Dhangri residents stay away from Holi as mark of respect to terror victims

The sarpanch of the village Deeraj Kumar said that the families of victims do not need jobs or ex-gratia. “The money will be returned to the same account from which it was credited if justice is not provided to the families,” he asserted.

J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh had last week said that terrorists involved in the Dhangri attack had infiltrated from Pakistan.

Earlier this month residents of Dhangri decided to stay away from the celebration of the Holi festival as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the terror attack.

The attack on the minority community was seen as a major security concern after which 18 extra companies of CRPF were rushed to Rajouri and Poonch districts for stepping up security while one of the companies has also been deployed in Dhangri village.