Family members mourn the death of Deepak Sharma, who along with three other civilians was gunned down by unidentified men, in Dhangri area of Rajouri, on Jan 1, 2023. (Photo | PTI)
Jammu- Family members of the Dhangri militant attack victims on Monday threatened to migrate from their village to a “safer” place and return the ex-gratia amount if the government fails to catch the attackers and bring them to justice.
Militants had struck Dhangri village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on January 1 and targeted villagers and fled before planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
While five people were killed in the firing by militants, two others died in the IED explosion the next morning. As many as 14 villagers were injured in the twin attacks.
The attackers are still at large.
Saroj Bala, who lost two sons — Prince and Deepak — in the militant attack, said if the government cannot provide her justice, it should “shoot me dead too”.
“We don’t need jobs. We don’t need money. We need justice by bringing terrorists and their supporters to book. If they don’t address our demand, we will all migrate from here (Dhangri),” she told reporters in Rajouri.
Flanked by a large number of villagers, Bala said though 90 days have passed since the gruesome attack, there were no whereabouts of the terrorists involved.
“We have not received any information about the progress of the case and terrorists involved in the attack so far,” She said.
Bala said she appreciated the support provided to the victims’ families by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and J-K BJP Ravinder Raina. However, contrary to it, the J-K DGP said the attackers were Pakistani terrorists and have gone back after the killings, she added.
“How is it that? My son was fired 18 to 20 rounds. Terrorists from across the border would fire a single or twin shot to kill a person but why were so many bullets fired? They (attackers) killed people after checking their IDs,” Bala said.
“Even if that is true, what about those who gave them support to infiltrate, guided them and provided food and shelter here,” she asked.
“The administration, in order to escape its responsibilities, transferred the SSP and the SHO probing case,” Bala said.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Thursday had said militants had infiltrated from Pakistan and killed innocent people in Dhangri village.
Asserting that the victims’ families do not need jobs or ex-gratia, Dhangri village sarpanch Deeraj Kumar said that the money will be returned back to the same account where from it was credited if justice is not provided to the families.
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