The security grid are confident that the retaliation by the joint forces has defeated the conspiracy of the JeM to cause massive civilian casualties ahead of PM Modi’s visit
CISF head constable Pramod Patra in Government Medical College, Jammu. News18
Shattered windows, a smashed windscreen, a steel tiffin box, a water bottle, a few caps that are part of the CISF uniform — that is what remains in the bus which was carrying 15 Central Industrial Security Force personnel to duty at the Chaddha Camp of Jammu early on 22 April, 2022. At about 4.25 am, the vehicle came under attack from two Jaish-e- Mohammed terrorists, say officials.
Head constable Pramod Patra, who was in the middle of the bus, recalled that the grenades and bullets came from a height, smashing the glass windows and hitting the personnel directly. “It was dark. We were not sure from how many directions the fire was coming from. I jumped out of the window and got into the nullah,” Patra recalled.
That jump saved the life of this father of two. But assistant sub-inspector SP Patel of the CISF lost his life during treatment in hospital. Patra and the six other personnel who were brought in for treatment were unsure when the fatal bullet hit Patel.
A resident of Khurda in Odisha, Patra suffered injuries to his hand. His forehead was stitched up when News18 visited him at the Government Medical College, Jammu.
On the bed next to him was J&K police head constable Balraj Singh. Balraj was on duty at the checkpoint that was set up after a specific input about movement of terrorists. “All of us on duty were standing near the barricade when suddenly the fire came. I got hit in the leg but retaliated. We continued to fire, forcing the terrorists to flee and take shelter in a house nearby,” Balraj recalled.
Sahil Sharma, his colleague from Jammu and Kashmir police, was drifting in and out of consciousness after surgery to take a bullet out. CISF personnel Vitthal was still in the intensive care unit (ICU).
At ground zero, meanwhile, a J&K police Gypsy with flattened tyres and glass shards on the road reminds one of the fierce encounter that took place at Sunjwan. A board just 50 metres from the Gypsy leads one to the Sunjwan Army camp that was the target of terror attacks in 2003 and 2018.
J&K director general of police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said a military installation could have been the target of the fidayeen squad. ADGP Mukesh Singh told News18 that the motive was to derail Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned visit to Jammu on 24 April, 2022. “The naka (checkpoint) had been put because of a specific input about movement of terrorists along the nullah. We put a cordon around the area. The terrorists seem to be foreign terrorists who fired because they could not get out of the naka,” he told News18.
Soon after the attack, security forces eliminated the two terrorists.
The CISF in a statement said, “There were inputs that some fidayeen terrorist organisations were planning a major attack in the Jammu region; a joint combing and search operation was being carried out in the area, wherein CRPF and local police personnel were deployed for inner cordon & search operation and CISF personnel at naka near Chadda Camp meant for outer cordon.”
The CISF may have lost ASI Patel in the encounter but the security grid has heaved a sigh of relief, confident that the retaliation by the joint forces has defeated the conspiracy of the Jaish-e-Mohammed to cause massive civilian casualties ahead of the PM’s visit.
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