NADI MARG (Held Kashmir), March 24: Unknown suspects lined up 24 Hindu men, women and children and gunned them down in occupied Kashmir on Sunday night. The bloodletting dimmed New Delhi’s hopes of resettling 200,000 Hindus who fled the held state in 1989.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday called a meeting of his cabinet which, after condemning the bloodletting in “the strongest terms”, warned of an intensified crackdown against Mujahideen.

Ten to 12 armed men entered the village of Nadi Marg, 54kms south of Srinagar, pretending to be soldiers, a police official said.

The gunmen herded out villagers from their homes and sprayed them with bullets from automatic guns before escaping into nearby forests.

The official said the assailants overpowered six policemen guarding Nadi Marg, which only had 11 Hindu families, comprising 52 members.

A wounded survivor, Chunni Lal, 58, said the gunmen knocked on his door and ordered him and his wife out on the pretext of a search operation for guerillas.

Mr Lal held his breath and feigned death after being shot until the gunmen had left.—AFP