October 6, 2002	Sunday	Rajab 28, 1423

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SRINAGAR, Oct 5: Three Indian soldiers were killed and two injured in an explosion at a polling booth in occupied Kashmir, where 10 more people died in other related separatist violence, officials said on Saturday.

A device, which officials said was planted by guerillas, exploded in Sogam village in the Lolab area of the northern Kupwara district overnight.

The three who died were members of the BSF. “The condition of one of the injured is serious,” a BSF spokesman said.

He said the explosion occurred inside a school building which was to be used as a voting station on Tuesday when Lolab goes to the polls in the last stage of four-phase elections for the state assembly. “BSF personnel had just moved in when the explosion took place,” the spokesman said.

Muslim guerillas fighting Indian rule in occupied Kashmir have vowed to kill anyone taking part in the polls.

The incident was the third major explosion involving BSF personnel after the completion of third round of voting on Oct 1.

On the day of polling militants triggered a landmine killing six members of the BSF who were escorting election officials to election headquarters in the southern Pulwama district.

The next morning another explosion in the same district killed five BSF personnel.

Meanwhile, at Dangiwachi in the neighbouring border district of Baramulla three Muslim guerillas and an Indian army soldier died in a fierce overnight encounter, a police spokesman said. In the same district two more militants died in two separate encounters. Two more militants and a security force personnel died in three separate encounters in Poonch, Doda and Kupwara districts, police said on Saturday.

INDIAN CLAIM: Indian security forces said on Saturday they had arrested seven “top” members of a Kashmiri guerilla group involved in a series of attacks during the state assembly election.

“We achieved a major breakthrough by apprehending the battalion commander of Hizbul Mujahideen along with six top associates during raids in Srinagar city on Friday,” a BSF spokesman asserted.—AFP/Reuters