Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 10

Capt Shikhar Deep of 8 Sikh Light Infantry went missing under mysterious circumstances after he boarded a train in Bihar on the intervening night of February 6 and 7. He was travelling to Delhi from Katihar on the Mahananda Express. Sources said Capt Shikhar Deep was a resident of Bihar. He was posted with Sikh Light Infantry (Sikh Li), a unit based in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir. His father, Lt Col Anant Kumar, told the Army that his son spoke to him while onboard the train on February 6 at 10.40 am. Shikhar (25) told his family that two persons who did not have confirmed tickets were in his compartment.The Captain’s relatives arrived at the Delhi railway station to pick him but he did not reach there. However, his belongings, including his shoes, clothes and an empty wallet, were found in the train.The location of his phone was traced to a hotel at Bihar Sharief on February 7 morning. Since then, the phone is switched off. The Army authorities are trying to locate the missing officer with the help of the police.”The officer (Captain) might have been looted by the criminals by offering drinks or food mixed with drugs/intoxicant or sedatives,” said a senior Army officer.”They (miscreants) mix drugs and sedatives with food, drink and even prasad. We have received reports about women being used to lure jawans,” said another officer.

An army officer traveling in the Mahananda Express en route Delhi from Bihar was reported as missing, on Wednesday, the Railway Police has said.

Officer Shikhar Deep has been missing since 6 February when he started from his relative’s place in Katihar, Bihar.

According to Jitendra Mishra, Superintendent of Police (Railway), Deep boarded the train at 7 pm. His phone was active till the train reached Rajendra bridge which is 6 hours away from the junction.

The Travel Ticket Examiner (TTE) on duty, co-passengers, and railway pantry employees on duty will be questioned, according to Mishra.

Deep’s relative from Katihar, Shiva Nand Mandal has said that his voter ID and luggage were found on his seat. According to Mandal, the Captain who was posted in Jammu and Kashmir has been kidnapped.

The Indian Army and badassery go hand in hand. There’s no dearth of gallantry tales of war heroism when it comes to the soldiers of our soil. From the treasure chest of valour, this is the story of Piru Singh who literally ran amuck on the Pakistani soldiers during the Indo-Pak war of 1947.

Born in Rajasthan in a family where joining the military was a tradition, Piru Sigh Shekhawat enrolled in the 6 Rajputana Rifles on 20 May 1936. The Jammu And Kashmir operation of 1948 saw the Pakistani army mount a strong counter offensive on the Tithwal sector. The Indian Army suffered another setback after they were forced to vacate certain forward positions at Kishanganga. The Indian Army buckled up to hit back with Rajputana Rifles’ soldiers called upon for action.  The Pakistani army held a high feature (post) that gave them an eagle eye’s view of our troops. To make any further progress, acquiring this post was a must. Sadly though, there was no other way but to run straight towards the post to launch an offensive.

The path to the post was about one metre wide with deep ravines on either side. The platoons were divided into D and C companies with Piru in lead of the D company. Unfeeling of the danger ahead, the D company launched its attack. As expected, they took heavy head on fire by a machine gun post and as many as 51 soldiers were martyred. Piru Sigh, enraged after the loss of his brothers, literally ran towards the havocking gun post with his sten gun taking down anything that came in his way. Enemy grenade splinters ripped open his clothes but he eventually took over the post silencing the machine gun. He looked back and realized that all of his companions were dead. Now he was to snatch the hill post all on his own.

He marched ahead and was soon hit by a grenade that almost tore open half his face blurring his vision. Ignoring the grueling pain, Piru hurtled on with ‘Raja Ramchandra Ki Jai’ as his war cry and lobbed grenades in three enemy trenches before finally taking a bullet to the head and giving the supreme sacrifice. Piru not only killed at least 10 Pakistani soldiers but also completed the mission he was assigned. The hill post now belonged to the Indian Army!

Madan Lal Sharma, secretary of the Four-Lane Visthapit and Prabhit Samiti and a retired Armyman, during a conference on implementation of the Land Acquisition Act in Shimla on Thursday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

Kuldeep Chauhan,Tribune News Service,Shimla, February 4

Ex-serviceman from the Army Madan Lal Sharma from Ghumarwin today asked the government to fulfil the demands of farmers displaced by the Kiratpur-Ner Chowk national highway project or face protest.Farmers are demanding adequate compensation and demarcation of their land.He said he had also sent locks to shut offices of the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister and Bilaspur MLAs as they could not provide relief to over 10,000 farmers.“If farmers’ demands are not met, they will stop bulldozers of the NHAI’s construction company on February 6 in Bilaspur”, said Madan Lal.He has formed the Four-Lane Visthapit and Prabhavit Samiti to plead the issues of farmers. “We have no way out other than sending locks to people’s representatives as they are answerable to public,” rued Madan Lal.He said they had dispatched locks to the Prime Minister’s Office and Central agencies as the letters, written to the PMO, had failed to serve the purpose.He said the land of over 10,000 farmers from Bilaspur to Kiratpur in the 84-km stretch was being acquired.He said IL and FS construction company was violating the pollution norms and turning the fields of farmers and the Sutlej and Gobind Sagar in Bilaspur into a dumping yard.Madan Lal said they were in touch with the convener of the Fourlane Sangharsh Samiti, Mandi, led by Brig Khushal Thakur, a Kargil war hero, who had been spearheading the farmers’ movement for seeking adequate compensation under the Land Acquisition Act.

Lahore, February 1

Pakistan’s investigation into the Pathankot terror attack has made “no headway” and it will seek more evidence from India to move forward, a source privy to the developments said today, days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promised to make the probe findings public soon.“No headway has been made in the investigation of the Pathankot attack. The ball is back in India’s court as we need more evidence to move forward,” he said.The six-member Pakistan government team investigating the Pathankot air base attack has written to the Foreign Ministry to seek more “leads” from India. “The team has almost completed its investigation into the five cellphone numbers (allegedly used for making calls from Pakistan to India) provided by India. No further leads were found from these numbers because these were unregistered and had fake identities,” he said. — PTI

Rijiju calls review meet

• Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju has called a border management review meeting for over 500-km border with Pakistan in Punjab. He announced this after visiting the Mahawa outpost in Amritsar on Monday.