CHINKIPORA ENCOUNTER AFTERMATH

Sopur, Mar 15: Three weeks after the gunfight between militants and troops that led to the destruction of their houses, homeless residents have another worry that has been keeping them away from starting reconstruction is the fear of unexploded material left under the rubble.
 Even though army claims to have cleared the area after the operation was over, the residents have not cleared the debris.
 The affected families have accused troops of not clearing the explosive material after the three- day operation on February 26.
 “It is sheer negligence on their behalf as four days back when were digging the debris to extricate the belongings, we stumbled on an explosive device fitted with wires. We informed the police who seized it,” said Muhammad Arif, a resident.
 The worry was that they have not been able to get services of labourers on hire since this class too fears about the left over ‘risky material’.
 “We couldn’t get labor for the perilous task at Rs 500 even a day,” said Muhammad Sultan, a resident, pointing towards the wires that were visible in debris.
 According to them, a mishap occurred in the locality four months back, when an unexploded material went off after the gunfight ended.
  “Four persons, including a woman were wounded when they were clearing rubble of their damaged houses last November here,” they added.
 PRO Defence Lt Col Vineet Sood said that clearance was done in professional manner.
 “The clearance was done professionally,” he added.
Pertinently, about 14 houses were destroyed and 20 others suffered partial damage during the three- day gunfight.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 IST