Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, Northern Command chief, accompanied by the White Knight Corps Commander, Lt Gen Paramjit Singh, visited forward posts in the Akhnoor sector on Friday to review the operational preparedness and the prevalent security situation.

Lt General Ranbir was briefed on the actions taken to meet the challenges of the increased ceasefire violations through superior and aggressive domination of the LoC being exercised by the troops to exert pressure on Pakistan and defensive measures put in place to thwart the designs of the adversary. TNS

 

OFB gets Defence Ministry’s nod for producing 114 long-range artillery gun ‘Dhanush’

NEW DELHI: The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has received a bulk production clearance from the Indian Army and the Defence Ministry for production of 114 ‘Dhanush’ artillery guns, officials said Tuesday.

‘Dhanush’ is the first long-range artillery gun to be produced in India and it is a major success story of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The OFB has received a bulk production clearance from the Army and the Defence Ministry for production of 114 first-ever indigenous artillery gun ‘Dhanush’, it said, adding, the clearance was received on Monday.

“The gun is equipped with inertial navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, on-board ballistic computation and an advanced day and night direct firing system. The self-propulsion unit allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in mountainous terrains with ease,” the ministry said.

‘Dhanush’ has been mechanically upgraded to fire standard NATO 155 mm ammunition and can accommodate the bi-modular charge system (BMCS) which has resulted in increasing the range, it said.

It has also been electronically upgraded to enhance the firing accuracies, laying speeds of the existing gun and to provide compatibility with various kinds of ammo as well, the statement said.

The performance of the gun has been evaluated under arduous conditions in several phases.

“The guns travelled extensively in towed and self-propelled mode in all terrains viz desert and high altitude with each gun clocking over 1600 km. Such an extensive exercise was carried out by the user for the first time for any gun system under the process of induction,” it added.

The manufacture of a 155 mm modern artillery gun was initially a challenge for the OFB. This was due to change in the vision parameters from 155×39 calibre to 155×45 calibre.

The OFB received the Transfer of Technology (ToT) documents pertaining to 155×39 calibre and then converted it to 155×45 calibre successfully, the statement said.

‘Dhanush’ is the product of joint efforts by the OFB and the Army with contributions from the DRDO, DGQA, DPSUs such as Bharat Electronics Limited, PSUs such as SAIL and several private enterprises.

The media has repeatedly said over the last few months that sniping is a new modus operandi at the Line of Control between India and Pakistan and the Army is losing this new war due to ageing equipment.

Out dated equipment is a concern, and therefore the Indian Army has just bought new deadly sniper rifles for the Northern Command – .50 Calibre M95 by Barrett and the .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT by Beretta – to replace the Russian Dragunov.

But contrary to media’s claims, sniping is not a new phenomenon, and is in fact a tried-and-tested way of achieving moral ascendancy along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Indian Army hasn’t fared poorly. Improvisation has largely made up for lack of adequate equipment.

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Also read: Deadly new sniper rifles are here for Northern Command soldiers along LoC

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A force-multiplier

The Soviet-era Dragunov sniper rifle has been the mainstay of the Indian Army in conventional operations along the LoC as well in counter-terror missions. However, the 800-metre effective range offered by the Dragunov is now insufficient for modern-day warfare.

Yet, the Indian Army through improvisation, correct training and selection has created an environment wherein sniping has become a force multiplier. The adversary too hasn’t been static on this front.

I recall on the first day of my command at Siachen in 1995, we lost an outstanding young officer, keeping vigil on his post from behind a four-feet wall, to a single shot fired by the enemy. Investigation showed that the shot was fired by a medium machine gun (MMG) from a range of 4,200 metres. It is definitely not a range from which an MMG is fired, but improvisation made it possible.

Sources within the Indian Army say that there is no despair over inadequate sniping equipment because improvisation has made up for it, with even anti-material rifles being used for sniping now. However, improvisation alone cannot ever be a permanent solution to fighting the adversary; soldiers won’t say it but they know it.

The purchase of new sniper rifles, with enhanced range of 1500-1800 metres, was much-needed, but their arrival doesn’t guarantee overnight success. Some degree of improvisation and innovation will again be the key to ensuring optimum utilisation.

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Also read: The new danger in Kashmir: Cold, calculating snipers who are wary of close contact

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How to maximise effectiveness

The effectiveness of a weapon can be maximised when the user is confident about it, its technical characteristics including faults have been well-understood, and the required talent pool has been created for it among the fighting units.

All this can happen fast, given the Indian Army’s penchant to pursue an aim with utmost focus. But it also needs to add institutional weight behind the effort, through reintroduction of the sniper training course and sniper competitions, which stopped several years ago. Those who acquire requisite skills after rigorous training must be suitably rewarded.

Introducing the Sniper Badge is the first such step and only those meeting the stringent standards must earn the right to display it. Shooting ranges of 1,800 metres and beyond are not available along the LoC. There is little scope for the troops deployed to train with the equipment unless select batches are sent for training at the ranges in desert areas or central India. The best training ground, of course, is the LoC itself and there is no doubt that a simultaneous on-the-job training, while fighting the adversary, can continue there.

But we need more than just a gung-ho approach to streamline the creation of a talent pool that once existed in the Infantry units.

Sniping war will continue

It is important to know why sniping is a difficult operation at the LoC and yet easy enough to grab opportunities when they present themselves. Recently, a one-star rank officer of the Pakistan Army was seriously injured in an exchange of fire in the Lipa sector. It led to the Pakistanis targeting two JCOs on our side in the Kupwara sector. Both operations, the Pakistani and ours, involved the use of snipers. Many more exchanges have been reported over the last year. The LoC posts are virtual citadels with a labyrinth of deep communication trenches to afford movement within the post without enemy observation, but there are a number of other places where any movement is under observation.

Terrain domination in some areas give either side the advantage of observation, and vegetation is not available everywhere for cover. A quid pro quo situation exists at most places along the LoC where there are mutual vulnerabilities that prevent risk taking by either side. He who has the ability and confidence to prevent exposure of potential targets becomes the psychological winner, a major contribution to moral ascendancy at the LoC. It forces a lot of movement by night.

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Also read: The enemy at the gates has a new weapon and Indian Army needs to wake up

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At the LoC, the Indian Army will always be forced to offer more targets than the adversary not only because of the higher quantum of deployment, but also due to the nature of it. Deployment in small detachments in tactically unsound positions along the LoC to prevent infiltration is common; tactically unsound may seem strange to older soldiers, but the fact remains that in counter infiltration the aim is to prevent terrorists getting across and not the defence of some real estate. This increases vulnerability especially when the LoC fence is under reconstruction or maintenance.

The idiom ‘two can play this game’ is applicable all along the LoC. While ceasefire will remain on paper, violations will take place. Sniping exchange, however, is largely unreported and therefore remains outside the purview of public gaze.

The sniping war, therefore, will continue even as other means of moral domination emerge. The arrival of new sniper weapons, combined with improvisation and a return to the old-world sniper training culture, will definitely help in turning the tables on the adversary to a greater extent.

The author, a former GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, is associated with the Vivekanand International Foundation and the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. He is the Chancellor of Central University of Kashmir.

Masood Azhar. — File photo

New Delhi, February 18

Maulana Masood Azhar, the dreaded architect of some of India’s biggest terror attacks, was an “easy man” to handle in custody with one slap enough to make him blurt out details of his movements, says a former police officer who interrogated him several times.

Azhar, who used a Portuguese passport to enter India through Bangladesh and reach Kashmir, was arrested in February 1994 in Anantnag in South Kashmir.

In custody, intelligence agencies did not have to use “coercive method” against Azhar to extract information as he started speaking after the “first slap” from an army officer and gave deep insights into the functioning of terror groups operating from Pakistan, the officer said.

“He was an easy man to handle and a slap from an army officer shook him completely,” former Director General of Sikkim Police Avinash Mohananey, who interrogated Azhar many times during his two-decade tenure in the Intelligence Bureau, told PTI.

After his release in exchange of passengers of hijacked IC-814 flight of Indian Airlines in 1999 by the then BJP government, Azhar formed Jaish-e-Mohammed and scripted many audacious terror strikes in India, including on Parliament House, Pathankot air force base, army camps in Jammu and Uri, and the latest suicide attack on CRPF in Pulwama which claimed the lives of 40 personnel.

While in custody, Azhar, in his early 50s now, shared information about recruitment process and functioning of terror groups in Pakistan at a time when the intelligence agencies were still grappling to understand the proxy-war unleashed by Pakistan’s espionage agency ISI, said Mohananey, a 1985-batch IPS officer who headed the Kashmir desk in the agency at that time.

“There were several occasions when I met him in Kot Balwal jail and interrogated him for hours together. We did not have to use any coercive method as information flowed consistently from him,” he said.

Azhar gave the Indian agencies vital insights into diversion of Afghan terrorists into Kashmir Valley and merger of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI) into Harkat-ul-Ansar, represented by him as its general secretary, the officer said.

After his arrival in India from Bangladesh in 1994, Azhar travelled to Saharanpur before reaching Kashmir where he held meetings of warring factions of HuM and HuJI to formulate a common policy, Mohananey said.

“I came on a forged Portuguese passport for ensuring that HuM and HuJI are together in the valley. It was not possible for me to cross the Line of Control on foot,” the police officer recalled Azhar telling them.

A man of mannerism and etiquette during interrogation sessions, Azhar used to give detailed answer to any question that was asked to him, he said.

The Jaish chief, during his stint as a journalist with ‘Sada-e-Mujahid’, a tabloid published from Karachi, had in 1993 travelled with a group of Pakistani scribes to some countries, drumming up support for “Kashmir cause’, he said.

Mohananey recalled that Azhar would often boast that police could not be able to keep him in custody for long as he was important for Pakistan and the ISI.

“You are underestimating my popularity. The ISI would ensure that I am back in Pakistan,” the police officer recalled him as saying.

Surprisingly, some foreigners were kidnapped from Delhi 10 months after his arrest in February 1994 and the kidnappers had demanded his release.

The plan failed with the arrest of Omar Sheikh, who was also released in the 1999 exchange, and was later involved in the gruesome beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

Another attempt to free him was made by a shadow group of Harkat-ul-Ansar, Al-Faran, which demanded his release in exchange of five foreigners kidnapped in Kashmir in July 1995.

Before shifting out to another posting, the officer said, “I met him again in 1997 when he was in the same jail. I informed him that I was proceeding to a new posting to which he wished me good luck.”

“I was at new posting when I heard about his release on December 31, 1999 in exchange for passengers of IC-814. He really meant it when he said that we would not be able to keep him for long,” he said.

The JeM chief is now believed to be in his native Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

The then BJP-led NDA government had released Azhar, along with Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar alias ‘Latram’, in exchange of passengers of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Kathmandu to New Delhi which was taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

After the negotiations failed with hijackers, the government succumbed to their demands and the then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh took the three terrorists to Kandahar in Afghanistan in a special plane to ensure the release of passengers of the hijacked plane. — PTI

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, February 16

Head Constable of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Nasir Ahmed, who was killed in a suicide attack in Pulwama district on Thursday, was laid to rest with full state honours at his native Dodassan Bala village in Rajouri district on Saturday.

Themartyr was posted in Jammu and was deputed as the commander of the CRPF convoy, which had left Jammu for Kashmir on Thursday.

Minister of State in the PMOJitendra Singh, former Deputy CM Nirmal Singh, state BJP president Ravinder Raina, MP Jugal Kishore, CRPF IG B Chouhan, CRPF DIG Nitu Bhatacharya, Rajouri DC MA Asad, Rajouri SSPYougal Manhas and senior Army officers paid homage to Head Constable Nasir at his village.

Thousands of people had gathered in the village to pay their last respects to the martyr.

The coffin draped in a Tricolour was brought in a procession about 12.30 pm and the martyr was laid to rest in the presence family members, relatives and dignitaries.

Jitendra expressed his condolences to the family of the martyr, who is survived by wife, minor daughter and a son.

The minister also interacted with Sehraj-ud-Din, elder brother of the martyr, who is a head constable in the J&K Police and at present posted in Jammu. He directed the senior officers to get him posted in Rajouri, if he wanted, so that he could take care of the family.

“The CRPF will always stand by the side of Nasir’s family and we are thankful to the entire nation for showing solidarity with the family,” said CRPF DIG Nitu Bhatacharya.

‘Establish school in Nasir’s name’

• Thousands of people had gathered in Dodassan Bala village of Rajouri district to pay their last respects to Head Constable Nasir Ahmed
• Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh paid tributes to the martyr in the village. He also met the family and expressed his condolences to them. He asked the Rajouri Deputy Commissioner to establish a school in the name of martyr

 

 

Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Karnal, February 12

A pall of gloom descended on Dinger Majra village in the district on Tuesday following the death of Havildar Baljeet Singh (35) in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir.

The gunfight broke out when joint teams of security forces launched an anti-militancy operation in the Ratnipora area of Pulwama district. One militant was also killed in the gunfight.

A soldier of the 50 Rashtriya Rifles, Baljeet had joined the Army in January 2002. He talked to his wife and children over phone on Monday night. He told them that he would come home for a vacation, but destiny had something else in store for him. He is survived by his wife Aruna, father Kishan Chand (75), daughter Jannat (7) and son Arnav (3).

As per family members, his mortal remains would reach the village on Wednesday and the last rites would begin around 9:30 am.

As the news reached the village, hundreds of people thronged his house to console the grieving family and express grief. Several youths of the village were serving the armed forces.

“Officials informed us about Baljeet’s martyrdom this morning. We were informed that before laying down his life, he killed one militant. We are proud of his sacrifice,” said Dilbag Singh, Baljeet’s cousin.

He had served as NSG commando in VVIP duties between 2015 and 2017. Aruna said he had come home on Diwali and talked to them on Monday night.

“Baljeet was a brave man and great son. I am proud of my son,” said the martyr’s father. Gharaunda MLA Harvinder Kalyan said the government would extend help to the family as per its policy.

 

o be based at Chandigarh, the existing home of the 126 Helicopter Unit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 10

In what will augment the capabilities of the Indian Air Force and enable rapid deployment of troops, the first lot of four CH-47F Chinook helicopters arrived in India on Sunday at a port in Gujarat.

These helicopters will be based at Chandigarh, the existing home of the 126 Helicopter Unit, which holds the Soviet-origin heavy lift copters Mi-26. “The Chinooks will be ferried to Chandigarh where a formal induction is scheduled later this year,” manufacturer Boeing said in statement.

India and the US had signed a deal for 15 Chinook copters in September 2015. The first four are part of that delivery and the next lots will arrive in batches. The four Chinooks arrived at Gujarat on board a ship.

The Chinook is a multi-mission helicopter that features a fully integrated, digital cockpit management system and a common aviation architecture cockpit. The massive helicopter can carry 9.6 tonne of cargo, including heavy machinery, artillery guns and even light-armoured vehicles to high-altitude areas. It is also used for transport of troops, equipment and fuel. It is also used for humanitarian and disaster-relief operations, in missions such as transportation of relief supplies and mass evacuation of refugees.

The last time a set of Chinooks flew over Chandigarh was in 2015 when the UK’s Royal Air Force sent a few of the Chinooks for assistance during the Nepal earthquake. The copters were then assembled at the Chandigarh base. The city being a supply base for Ladakh, Kargil and Siachen, it also has a base repair depot.

Aurangzeb was abducted and killed by militants in Pulwama on June 14. File photo

Ishfaq Tantry
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 6

The Army has been questioning  three soldiers over their possible involvement in leaking information about the movement of their colleague Aurangzeb, a rifleman with 44 Rashtriya Rifles, who was kidnapped and killed by militants in south Kashmir on June 14.

The three soldiers are being quizzed on suspicion that they might have knowingly or unknowingly leaked information about Aurangzeb’s movements.

Aurangzeb, who was proceeding on leave for Eid on 14 June, 2018, was kidnapped and later shot in the head and neck.

His body was found by a team of police and Army officials at Gussu village, about 10 km from Kalampora, in Pulwama district, from where he was abducted.

Aurangzeb had taken lift from a private vehicle outside his camp in Shopian, but was being tracked by militants, who stopped the car and abducted him a few kilometres away.

Aurangzeb, who was close to an Army officer who had gunned down Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sameer Tiger in Kashmir in April, 2018, was killed by the militants in Pulwama last year.

The three soldiers, all locals and belonging to the 44 Rashtriya Rifles, have been identified as Abid Hussain Wani, Tajamul Ahmed and Adil Wani.

Though the Army is tightlipped about the questioning of the three soldiers in Aurangzeb killing, an official on condition of anonymity disclosed that “the three soldiers are with them and an Inquiry to ascertain their role is currently underway”. He did not elaborate further.

One of the soldiers under the scanner is brother of Abid Tauseef Wani — who was allegedly tortured by an Army officer in Shadimarg camp — where Aurangzeb was posted.

Wani is currently undergoing treatment at SMHS hospital here.

“Abid, originally working with JAKLI. He was posted with 44 Rashtriya Rifles, when he was detained in June. Since then, we have not heard about him. The Army is not telling us anything. The Army on Monday also took his younger brother Towseef and tortured him under custody, who is now admitted in SMHS Hospital in Srinagar,” a relative of Abid told The Tribune.

“Apart from Abid, the Army has also detained two other soldiers namely Adil and Tajamul,” the relative said.

3 security men suspected of leaking info  

• An Army officer on the condition of anonymity said “the three soldiers are with them and an inquiry to ascertain their role is currently underway.
• It is suspected that the detained soldiers might have leaked information about the movement of Rifleman Aurangzeb (in pic) to the militants.