Paratrooper Dharmendra Kumar of Nainital, U’khand
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 14
In one of the bloodiest gunfights this year, three soldiers and a top Lashkar commander were killed in north Kashmir’s Bandipore district today. At least 12 security personnel, including two officers, were wounded. Protests erupted even while the encounter was on with locals trying to march toward the site. The police lobbed tear-gas shells to quell them.In another encounter at Kralgund (Handwara) in Kupwara late in the evening, an Army Major from Narnaul in Haryana — identified as S Dhaiya of the Army Service Corps, who was attached with 30 Rashtriya Rifles — and three militants were killed, while a jawan was injured. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Sources said a fierce gunfight erupted in the wee hours as the security forces cordoned off a house at Parrey Mohalla Hajin, 30 km northwest of Srinagar, following information that two Lashkar militants were hiding there. Cornered, the militants jumped out of the house, opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed grenades to break the cordon, inflicting heavy casualties.“In the initial gunfight, at least 14 security men, including an Army Major and a CRPF Commandant, who were leading the assault teams, were wounded. Three Army men later succumbed to injuries. A Lashkar commander too was killed,” the sources said. Another militant fled as protests erupted. Chetan Cheetah, Commanding Officer, 45 Battalion, CRPF, sustained multiple gunshots. His condition is critical. He may be shifted to Delhi. The other injured are being treated at the Army’s hospital in Srinagar.There have been at least six gunfights in Hajin area in the past nearly three months in which seven Lashkar militants have been killed. The encounter at Kralgund Handwara was backed by locals, the police claimed. “Frequently troubled by militants, the locals helped us. A combing operation was launched during which the militants opened fire, triggering a gunfight in which three Lashkar militants were killed,” Deputy Inspector-General of Police Nitish Kumar said.”In the past three days, three fierce encounters have taken place in Kashmir. Four militants, two soldiers and a civilian were killed in south Kashmir’s Kulgam on Sunday. In the subsequent clashes, another civilian was killed.
Major among four armymen killed in Valley gunfights
LASHKAR MAN, THREE OTHER MILITANTS NEUTRALISED IN BANDIPORA, HANDWARA
SRINAGAR: An army major was among four soldiers killed in two different encounters in Kashmir where an equal number of militants were neutralised on Tuesday.
In an encounter in the afternoon in north Kashmir’s Handwara three militants were gunned down while Major Satish Dhaiya who was injured later died in hospital. Deputy inspector general of police, north Kashmir, Nitish Kumar told HT that during the cordon and search operation, militants fired from the house they were hiding. The security forces returned the fire.
Shortly after the encounter, the army said Major Dahiya had been evacuated. Late Tuesday night, a Srinagar-based army spokesperson said that Major Dhaiya who was leading the operation in Handwara succumbed to his injuries. Earlier in the morning, one militant and three soldiers were killed in a gunfight in northern Kashmir’s Bandipora, police and army said.
“Three soldiers have been martyred and five others are injured. The operation has been terminated,” the army spokesperson said. The gunfight started at 5.30 am after security forces launched a search operation after being tipped off about the presence of militants in Hajin area.
Police said that the slain militant belonged to the Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) and was a foreigner. The Army said the three soldiers who were killed were paratrooper Dharmendra Kumar of Uttarakhand, rifleman Ravi Kumar of Jammu and Kashmir, and gunner Astosh Kumar of Uttar Pradesh. There have been three encounters in Kashmir since Sunday. Two soldiers, two civilians and four militants were killed on Sunday in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. On Wednesday, there is a Kulgam Chalo march called by the separatist leaders. JAMMU: The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday claimed to have detected another transborder tunnel, this time in Ramgarh sub sector of Samba district. The discovery effectively foiled a possible infiltration bid by terrorists into India.
“In view of security scenario in the past few months on international border of Jammu region and after assessing various threats from Pakistani side, Border Security Force had taken various innovative measures to ensure foolproof security. In this context, an anti-tunnel exercise is being carried out regularly along the border,” said BSF Jammu Frontier DIG D Pareekh.
On Monday, a BSF patrol specifically tasked to detect tunnels, came across the subway in Ramgarh sector, Pareekh said.
The tunnel of approximately 20 meters in length with a circumference of 2.5 feet by 2.5 feet originated from Pakistani side and ended 20 metres ahead of the barbed border fence in Indian territory, he added.
The officer said that the tunnel was yet to be completed and was detected before it reached the fence. “Efforts of alert BSF troops deployed in our multi-tier counter-infiltration grid once again resulted in neutralising another attempt of Pakistan rangers in connivance with terrorists to send them into India for terror attacks”, Pareekh said.
For the past few years Pakistan has been adopting the tunnel strategy to push terrorists into Jammu. Pakistan’s transborder tunnels have been found largely in the plains of Jammu from Chilyari in Samba district to RS Pura and Pallanwala areas of Jammu district.
ARMS, AMMUNITION RECOVERED IN POONCH
Security forces in a search operation on Tuesday recovered a rich haul of arms and ammunition from a forest area near Mendhar in Poonch district “In a predawn search operation, army and police busted a major cache of arms and ammunition in a forest near Mendhar,” said defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Mehta. He said: “Based on inputs from sources, a team of Rashtriya Rifles and JKP personnel launched a joint search operation. Arms and ammunition was recovered from the hideout, including a Pika machine gun with 90-belted rounds, AK 74 rifle, AK 47 rifle, two UBGLs, 22 UBGL grenades, two Chinese grenades, ICOM radio set with antennae and approximately 500 AK 47 rounds.”
COMMENTS BY COL CHARANJIT SINGH KHERA(Retd)
Maj Satish Dahiya (ASC) on attch with 30 RR, attained martyrdom today while fighting terrorists in Langate ( Handwara). The offr hailing from Narnaul haryana has put in 7 yrs of service, est contact with trts around 1700-1730 hrs.
The offr was fatally wounded in chest. Civilians came up and started stone pelting on soldiers in order to give cover to trts. 3 trts were however gunned down, the rest managed to escape under civilian cover.
The security forces, as in practice , were order bound to not hit civilians.
Yet again it’s the army and its brave hearts who are held up in the tussle between upholding human rights and upholding the anti-terrorist agenda of the Union.
Need to empower soldiers. Need to empower AFSPA. The offr was declared brought dead at base hospital Srinagar. May the brave soul rest in peace. A message to an ungrateful Nation??
Can we stop harping on surgical strikes and encashing votes in states on cost of sacrifices made by brave hearts. Need to review 7CPC for degrading Defence forces to the level of para-military Forces. A real shameful acts and speeches by National Leaders during campaigning . Which leader participated in the Surgical strike across border. Do they know how to hold a gun and handle a grande in self defence. Must stop degrading and winning elections on supreme sacrifice of soldiers and instead pay respect to them and honor them in public with two minutes silence during election rallies than the other way.
