Several unidentified militants attacked a camp housing road construction workers in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday, killing three labourers before fleeing, police said.
Two or three gunmen launched the raid on the General Reserve Engineer Force camp in Jourian, close to the border with Pakistan, after midnight, a police official said by telephone.
The GREF is the parent cadre force of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that builds and maintains border roads in the country.
The army had since cordoned off the camp and launched a search for the gunmen, said the official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Meanwhile Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti blamed Pakistan and separatists leaders for inciting violence and planning conspiracies in the state.
“When issues like Kashmiri Pandit Colony and Sainik Colony did not work, the killing of Burhan Wani was used to trigger unrest,” she said, referring to the killing of a separatist leader.
“Pakistan and the separatists derailed the dialogue process by shutting doors on the all-party delegation because they had made preparations for the valley unrest in advance.”
Defending the security forces’ handling of the situation, the chief minister said: “When a mob attacks a police station with petrol bombs, stones and axes, it becomes difficult to exercise restraint.”
She also announced compensation of Rs500,000 to every family that lost a member to firing by security forces and a government job for those blinded by pellets during the unrest which lasted nearly five months.
The chief minister also promised punishment to those guilty of using excessive force.
The five-month-long unrest, which started after the killing of Wani on July 8, 2016, left more than 100 people dead.

Related Story