This is for the first time that such bullets have been used in any militant attack across India, India Today reported
In what could send security agencies in a tizzy in Jammu and Kashmir, the three militants who carried out Fidayeen attack in Lethpora on December 31 had used bullets that pierced the body armour of the troopers.
This is for the first time that such bullets have been used in any militant attack across India, India Today reported.
Quoting Inspector General of paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Ravideep Sahi, the report said that three Jaish-e-Mohammed Fidayeens who attacked the CRPF installation in Pulwama had used steel-core bullets, which can pierce body armour.
“The bullet pierced the shield and hit him (trooper). Though the CRPF personnel killed the attacker, we lost one man,” Sahi said.
The hardened steel penetrator, encased usually in a copper jacket, in such bullets is a pointed mass of high-density material which retains its shape and strikes the target with maximum energy, said the report.
“In fact, one of the bullets penetrated the bullet-proof gypsy of the Assistant Commandant hitting a CRPF man,” mentioned the report.
The bullets, according to the report, have been sent for forensic examination.
The bullets used in the Pulwama attack, which are undergoing forensic tests outside the state, have set alarm bells ringing in the security establishment.
The use of armour-piercing rounds by militants could be a major security nightmare as several VIPS use bulletproof vehicles, added the report.
In the attack, three militants and five CRPF men were killed. Three troopers were in the firefight that lasted 36-hours.