“I was setting up dinner when a loud shot rang out just outside our house,” said Saroj Bala, recalling the night of January 1, 2023, when she survived an attack by gunmen in Jammu’s Dhangri village in what is seen in some quarters as the first of a new wave of terrorist strikes in the region. That night she lost her sons and her nephew.
“Minutes ago my son, Deepak, had parked his vehicle there and called out to me that he was coming up to eat. My younger son, Prince was in our aangan when a second bullet caught him. My nephew Rohit was also lying on the ground. When I saw the gunman load his weapon for the fourth time, I knew this was for me. I ran to the storeroom to save my life,” Bala said, sitting at her house in Upper Dhangri.
As election campaigning takes over the streets of Dhangri in the run-up to the Assembly polls, the wounds of the 2023 massacre in the area are still fresh. The residents of Upper Dhangri, who witnessed terror on January 1, 2023, said they long for justice and that politicians have eluded them. Dhangri will vote on September 25, the day of the second-phase polling in Jammu and Kashmir.
Seven people were gunned down in Upper Dhangri that day, all Hindus. Eye-witnesses said the terrorists went house to house and checked I-cards to ascertain identities before shooting victims point blank. An IED planted in Saroj Bala’s premises exploded the next day, killing two children and injuring many mourners.
Almost two years and an NIA chargesheet later, the survivors feel both justice and politicians have eluded them.
“Earlier 3 voting slips used to come to my house. In the Lok Sabha polls and again now, only one has come. No one comes to ask for my vote any more for they know I will ask about my case. But I will go to the booth and remind them of their promise to give me justice,” Saroj Bala told CNN-News18 sitting below a framed photograph of her two dead sons.
A few metres downhill, Kamlesh Devi, another survivor, showed her scars from the IED blast. “I have undergone multiple surgeries but it still hurts. Doctors say some splinters are still lodged in my leg and neck,” Kamlesh narrated, wiping off tears.
Gopal Das, whose nephews died in the attack and family members were injured, said, “Vote to hum denge, pehele bhi diya hai. BJP ko bhi diya, NC, PDP ko bhi diya. To hum vote dene se mana nahi karte, par humare saath insaaf nahi ho raha ye bhi sach hai. (We will vote, we have voted earlier as well, we have voted for the BJP, NC, PDP. So we won’t refuse to vote, but justice has not been done for us, and that is a fact.)”
These victims feel that NIA in its chargesheet has failed to unearth the real conspiracy and unmask the local support. “There are so many Hindus who stay around my neighbourhood. Why did they come only at my house? They asked, enquired and came to my house. If Pakistani militants had to kill people, they could have shot anywhere. You said that those terrorists ran away to Pakistan, how should we believe that,” Saroj Bala said.
Saroj has demanded reinvestigation into the case and named locals whom she suspected.
NIA chargesheet
The NIA, in its chargesheet, has named Lashkar-e-Toiba for the Dhangri massacre. The agency, in its February 2024 chargesheet, said that LeT’s Sajid Jutt, Abu Qatal and Mohammed Qasim masterminded the killings from PoK. The terrorists who actually carried out the killings have not been named, but three Poonch residents, including a minor, have been booked for providing logistical support to the terrorists.
“Investigation has revealed that two unknown Pakistani terrorists (One of tall height and another of short height) wearing military attires came to village Dhangri. The terrorist of short height planted the IED,” the NIA chargesheet said. NIA claimed that the short terrorist introduced himself as Anas to the overground workers but no other details have been mentioned about the duo.
Nisar Ahmed, a resident of Gursai in Mendhar, Poonch, has been accused by the NIA of collecting the arms consignment that was allegedly used to carry out the Dhangri massacre and also the attack on the Army vehicle in April 2023. Nisar has allegedly been involved with Lashkar since 1997.
Nisar’s son Bilal Ahmed, a juvenile, has been charged with attempting to destroy evidence. The NIA has claimed that Bilal tried to burn a mobile phone handset which was used to contact the Pakistani handlers through encrypted – Conion app.
Mushtaq Hussain, a mason, has been named for providing shelter to the Dhangri terrorists.
Elusive Politicians
The residents of Upper Dhangri lamented that while top leadership of the country assured them help after the attack, their quest to find the “real culprits” has not met with support. Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself had met the victims and ordered NIA probe. Residents pointed out that while local politicians and administration made a beeline for Upper Dhangri in the aftermath of the incident, today, election campaigning stops at the Dhangri Chowk, on the foothills.
The markets, schools, community centres in lower Dhangri have been decked with BJP flags. Campaign vehicles can be heard blairing out songs in favour of local candidate Vinod Kumar Gupta. The NC-Congress alliance has fielded Iftiqar Ahmed from the seat. In 2014, Qamar Hussain had won this seat for PDP. This year, Mastar Tadaak Hussain is the PDP candidate.
The PDP and NC-Congress have blamed the BJP for the return of terror to Jammu division while the BJP in its campaign has claimed that it is the valley based parties which are responsible for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Supporters of all three parties agree that it is a tight contest in this constituency in 2024 and the spectre of terror unleashed in Dhangri might play a role on the voter’s mind.
