The Army on Monday said Pakistani troops killed two jawans and mutilated their bodies near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Pir Panjal Valley’s Poonch district.
Pakistani soldiers and their Border Action Team, which includes trained border inhabitants, launched a joint attack early in the day. They first fired rockets and followed this up with firing from automatic weapons near Kranti Post, located in the Krishna Ghati Sector around 8.30 a.m.
The Pakistanis then crossed the LoC, entered 200 metres into Indian territory, and attacked a joint patrol of the Army and the Border Security Force (BSF), heading to a nearby post around 800 metres away from the other.
Inhuman act: Jaitley
“In an unsoldierly act, the Pakistan Army mutilated the bodies of two jawans. Such a despicable act will be appropriately responded to,” the Army said.
Sources said “it was a case of beheading.”
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley termed the mutilation a “reprehensible and an inhuman act” and said such acts don’t even take place “during war, let alone peace.”
‘Barbaric act’
“Bodies of soldiers being mutilated is an extreme form of barbaric act. The Government of India strongly condemns this act and the whole country has full confidence and faith in our armed forces, which will react appropriately to this inhuman act. The sacrifice of these soldiers will not go in vain,” Mr. Jaitley said.
Major exchange of
fire on LoC
The attack triggered a major exchange of fire on the LoC, and Indian troops resorted to small arms fire and mortar shelling, said an Army official.
Identified
The deceased personnel were identified as BSF head constable Prem Sagar of the 200 Battalion and the Army’s Naik Subedar Paramjit Singh of 22 Sikh Regiment. Another BSF jawan was injured.
( With inputs from
Dinakar Peri )
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