Few answers are forthcoming at the CRPF’s group centre at Rampur, where terrorists’ bullets felled eight men and injured five on the first day of the new year.

What rankles the CRPF is not only the marked lack of resistance but their inability so far to provide even workable clues about the identity of the assailants. “All we can say at this moment is that there were not less than four men. It seems that the whole attack was carried out within five minutes,” said Karamvir Singh, IG, CRPF.

“It seemed they knew where they would meet the least resistance. The planning was specific. They did not go towards the central weapon store, which is on the southern side and has a special defence team guarding it,” Singh added.

Some versions say that only one of the assailants had entered through the main gate, but this is not certain. Nor is it clear how the intruders returned.

One of the injured jawans, Kendarpal, has said that he had managed to injure one of the attackers. He and the other injured men had seen the attackers, but not closely enough to help draw sketches, said CRPF officers.

The number of rounds fired, including 16 to 17 shots in two bursts outside the DIG’s office, may yield some clues about the number of intruders. So can the make of the hand grenades hurled and a magazine with 29 live bullets.

Asked why the CRPF men were warming themselves outside on a bonfire, officers said this was being looked into. They, however, pointed out that the night was extremely cold and heaters are not provided in plains as a matter of policy.

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