Calling a decisive bluff to the claims made by both the State and Central governments as well as the Army, that the situation had considerably improved in the State during the winter months, terrorists struck in a big way at time when security was on maximum alert, and had prior information of the impeding calamity. Terrorists also struck at places around which gruesome massacres had taken place in recent past and security cover had been considerably beefed up. 

The terrorists first struck in Balijaran, situated on Rajouri-Kalakote road in the Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district on the intervening night of Feb 19 and Febm 20 . The Barat-reached the house of Sh Ravinder Kumar whose daughter was entering into a wedlock. The dinner of the baratis was arranged in a tent erected outside the house. By 11 PM most of the Baratis had taken dinner, and in view of terrorism in the area, and returned home in buses and matadors. The marriage ceremony was being performed in a nearby house and the bridegroom was staying there. The victims which included owner of the tent were among the persons left in the tent where they were packing off the stalls of eatables. 

Around 11:30 PM three terrorist wielding AK-47 rifles pulled up the tent flaps from three sides and opened indiscriminate firing on the persons inside the Shamina. As per eye witness accounts these terrorists were accompanied by more terrorist who stayed at a distance and probably provided cover to those who conducted the operation. Five men died on the spot while four others succumbed to their injuries later on. 

The terrorists struck in the Mora Patta village of Khorbani area in the same Kalakote tehsil of Rajouri district on the same night at around 1:30 AM. As per reports terrorists numbering between two to four barged into the house of Munshi Ram and resorted to indiscriminate firing killing all the four sleeping family members on the spot. The dead included Munshi Ram, his wife Shanu and two young sons Krishen Kumar and Teja. 

A group of terrorists numbering around 6 appeared in the village Baryan in the upper reaches of Arnas in the Udhampur district on the morning of the same dreadful night. The terrorists forced into the house of VDC members, fired indiscriminately killing eight on the spot while a two year old girl succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. The VDC members Dalip Singh, Prakash Singh and Dewan Singh did take out their guns and returned the fire but were no match to the superior fire power of the terrorists supposed to be members of dreaded Lashkar-e-Toiba of the nine dead in the Baryan village five belonged to the Munshi Ram's family while four were kins of Daleep Singh and Prakash Singh. 

The 22 persons killed during a single night included seven women and a minor girl. Two families were completely wiped out in the massacre. Aware that the authorities will desperately try to undermine the incident in the wake of ongoing Indo-Pak dialogue people in Rajouri came on the street in morning. Outraged villagers brought the dead bodies to Rajouri and placed them on the crossing 'for the whole world to see'. The next day the incident was blamed to be act of Laskhar-e-Toiba an international terrorist group claimed by Indian authorities not to be in the control of even Pakistani.