Seventh Dhangri terror victim cremated in Rajouri

Rajouri/Jammu, Jan 8 (PTI) The seventh victim of the terrorist attack in Dhangri village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri was cremated on Sunday in the presence of thousands of mourning people.

The 21-year-old Prince Sharma died at the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital Jammu, where he was shifted for specialised treatment along with several others after getting critically injured in the firing by terrorists in Dhangri on January 1, officials said.

The villagers had earlier refused to perform the last rites of the deceased until their demands, including the handing over of the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), were not met.

However, the mortal remains of Sharma were consigned to flames later in the day on the assurance of Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Vikas Kundal who along with senior police officers visited the villagers and assured them that all their “genuine demands” would be fulfilled.

The attacks in the village had left six people, including Sharma’s elder brother Deepak Kumar dead. While four persons were killed and six others injured in the terrorist firing on January 1, two cousins were killed and nine other persons injured in a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the village the next morning.

The IED was planted by terrorists before fleeing.

A massive search operation is on to neutralise the terrorists behind the attack, officials said.