Uri, Pathankot-style attack thwarted by CRPF jawans in Sumbal camp
- The CRPF camp in Sumbal had intelligence inputs regarding a terror attack on the camp.
- The presence of mind of two CRPF jawans thwarted the attack.
- Four terrorists, in groups of two, had tried entering the camp from two different sides.
FollowAn Uri-style attack was foiled by the presence of mind of two sentries and a specific intelligence input about terrorists scoping the CRPF camp at Bandipora. The camp had been alerted on May 15 that terrorists have been videographing the proximities. When the fidayeen sneaked into the campus and opened fire at 3:30 pm, constable K Dinesh Raja and Prafful Kumar retaliated swiftly and thwarted the attack. Soon, the nearby Jammu and Kashmir police camp joined the retaliation and all the terrorists were neutralised. The camp was secured.
The attack happened at the 45th batallion Sambal camp, which is close to the place where Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani operated till he was neutralised by security forces last year. The CRPF battalion is said to have put an end to many such attacks, along with the J&K police and the Army. This also included the counter-insurgency operation that killed Wani's successor Sabzar Bhat on May 26 in Tral. The battalion first grabbed media attention when one of its commandant Chetan Kumar Cheetah survived 9 bullets and a long coma after February 14 encounter with terrorists in Hajin.
The terrorists at Sambal tried to attack the camp in the wee hours when the alertness in the camp proximities was expected to be low. The four terrorists, armed heavily with AK-47 rifles, grenades and incendiary material, were seen trying to enter the camp in batches of two, each from the front and the back of the Sumbal camp. As they fired, the CRPF jawans, the army encampment nearby and the J&K Police joined forces to neutralise all the terrorists by 5:30 am. Deputy inspector general of police (North Kashmir) Nitesh Kumar, speaking to the Times of India, said, "The identities and affiliations of the slain militants are being investigated as a case has been lodged into the incident."
After the shootout, protestors, agitating against the killing of the four terrorists, pelted stones at government forces. Following this, a complete shutdown was observed in Sumbal. Meanwhile, applauding the CRPF, the police and teh army, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "It is inspiring to see CRPF men staying awake all night and maintaining tight vigil, and to see the Jammu and Kashmir Police coming to the CRPF's assistance quickly."
Close to 100 CRPF jawans were there inside the camp. Had the terrorists been successful in breaching the camp security, they would have managed to cause considerable harm.
