4-year-old child killed, 7 injured in IED explosion in Rajouri

Rajouri/Jammu: A four-year-old child was killed and seven people, three of them children, were injured in an IED explosion on Monday near the house of one of the victims of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Dangri village, officials said.

On Sunday evening, terrorists opened fire on three houses in the area in Rajouri district killing four civilians and injuring six, according to officials.

The incidents, occurring barely 14 hours apart, triggered protests across the district, including in Rajouri town, amid a complete shut down.

Officials said a team of the National Investigation agency has reached Dangri and it will conducted an initial probe.

The blast took place near the house of Pritam Lal, a victim of the terror attack, eyewitnesses claimed.

"The improvised explosive device (IED) was planted beneath a bag. It exploded. One child has died and seven others are injured," Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, Mukesh Singh told reporters in Rajouri, adding that the incident is being probed and the entire area has been cordoned off.

The army and police are conducting a massive search operation, the senior police officer, who reached the spot along with Jammu-Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, said.

Two terrorists are involved in the attack according to locals, Singh said.

IED explosion in Rajouri

Earlier in the day, the officer had said, "The blast has taken place near the house of the first firing incident" and that another IED has been spotted.

Eyewitnesses said there were several people, including the kin of the Sunday attack's victim, in the house when the blast took place between 9 to 9.30 am.

The four-year-old child killed in the blast has been identified as Vihan Kumar, officials said.

Sanvi Sharma (4), Kanaya Sharma (14), Vanshu Sharma (15), Samiksha Devi (20), Sharda Devi (38), Kamlesh Devi (55) and Samiksha Sharma have been injured, they said, adding that they are undergoing treatment at a hospital.

On the Sunday's attack, Singh said two terrorists fired on three houses in which four people were killed and six injured. The condition of the injured is stable, he said.

Those behind the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Dangri village will not go unpunished, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Monday and announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia and a government job to the next of kin of the civilians killed in the incident.

"I strongly condemn the cowardly terror attack in Rajouri. I assure the people that those behind this despicable attack will not go unpunished. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families," Sinha said in a tweet.

The Sunday attack was the first such in the past many years in the otherwise peaceful Jammu region and coincided with the first day of the New Year.

Sarpanch Deepak Kumar said that it was a serious security lapse on the part of police and security agencies.

"It is serious security lapse by security agencies. Minority community people do not feel secured. The administration should take tough measures," he told reporters in Rajouri.