SRINAGAR: An army captain was one of four defense personnel who died fighting at least half a dozen armed infiltrators, three of whom were shot dead, throughout the LoC in the Machil sector in the northern Kashmir. Kupwara District Sunday early.
In addition to Captain Ashutosh Kumar of the Madras Regiment and two other soldiers whose names have not been released, Sheriff Sundip Kumar of BSF Battalion 169 was killed in the shooting that started shortly after midnight Saturday and lasted around four hours.
“At around 1 am, a BSF patrol noticed a suspicious movement near the anti-infiltration obstacle system, about 3.5 km from the LoC. A shooting ensued, after which more troops were brought into the area and the terrorist movement was tracked with surveillance devices. He was killed in action along with three of our troops, “said defense spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia in a statement from Srinagar.
Two other members of the security staff were injured during a follow-up search operation for the remaining terrorists.
The infiltration offer was the second big try by suspected Pakistan-based terrorists to violate the LoC this year, just over seven months after five soldiers and as many armed infiltrators were killed in a skirmish in the Keran sector of Kupwara on March 31.
DGP Dilbag Singh said in Jammu that Pakistan it had been making repeated attempts to push the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists into India, “using tunnels on our side.”
“However, our forces on the border are giving an adequate response to the provocation from Pakistan,” he said.
Last month, the Army said security forces had thwarted “three-quarters of infiltration attempts from the other side of the LoC,” compared to 2019. Lieutenant General BS Raju, commanding general officer of the Corps of Chinar of the Army said there were still 250-300 terrorists waiting to cross from Pakistan.
“We have been able to stop them despite their repeated efforts to infiltrate J&K,” he said. “Last year about 130 infiltrators were infiltrated, but this year’s number is below 30. That is the change. I hope this leads to an improvement in the internal situation.”
Meanwhile, J&K Deputy Governor Manoj Sinha paid tribute to the security personnel killed in Machil, saying they had “shown courage and courage while protecting the integrity and sovereignty of the country.”
(With input from Sanjay Khajuria in Jammu)
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