Locals in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday staged a protest over the attack in Dhangri in Rajouri district on Sunday in which four villagers died of gunshots and at least six people were injured after gunmen fired indiscriminately on three houses of Hindu residents, separated around 50 metres apart.
Locals gathered at Main Chowk in the mountainside village of Dhangri, in Jammu division and raised slogans against police and district administration demanding that J-K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to listen to their demands. The locals have also called for Rajouri Bandh as a protest against the administration.
According to the police, an incident of firing was reported on Sunday evening in which four people were killed and six injured. The firing was done by two terrorists at three houses separated at a distance of around 50 metres from each other at upper Dangri village.
“LG Manoj Sinha hosh mein aao” the protesters raised slogans.
“The district administration has failed. We want L-G Manoj Sinha to come and listen to our demands,” Dhiraj Sharma, the Sarpanch where the firing incident occurred said.
He further said that the incident took place at around 7 pm and the police reached the spot around 8.30 pm.
“Had the locals not taken up the initiative, all of these 10 people would have been killed. They came to the hospital after they saw that the civilians are active. All the agencies have failed here,” he added.
The head of the village further pointed out the “failures of administration” here and said that the police released the dead bodies at 2 am with no security. Police and civil administration should be reshuffled, the Sarpanch demanded further seeking the army deployment here.
Another local, Ranjeet Tara said that the alleged terrorists inquired before firing at the deceased persons as “Hindus are being targeted here”.
“They checked their Aadhar card before firing at him. These shells were found at their home, They are targeting Hindus to evacuate the area. We request the Centre and the L-G to strengthen VDC (village defence committees) further and provide people here with VDC guns, so that people can protect themselves because by the time forces reach here, the entire area could have been finished,” Ranjeet Tara said.
Ranjeet Tara further said that they won’t vacate the side of the protest until action is taken.
Police have strengthened the presence of security and forces and are continuing their search operation in the Dhangri village.