Shyam Sood
Rajouri, July 9: Rescue teams comprising of personnel from the Army, Poonch police, & locals recovered the bodies of two soldiers of 16 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) who were swept away by flash floods triggered by heavy rains in the Poshana area in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district on Saturday.
In three separate tragic incidents, two soldiers were swept away by flash floods while crossing a stream in the Poshana area of Surankote of Poonch district, while two persons working as daily wagers with PDD were killed due to electric shock while repairing a faulty line/transformer in Rajouri & Poonch districts.
Sources said in the afternoon on Saturday, an Area Dominating Patrol of 16 RR was crossing a stream between Poshana & Dogra along the Mughal Road in the Surankote area of Poonch district.
While crossing the stream one of the soldiers, namely L/Nk Telu Ram swept away in the strong current of flash floods, and in an attempt to save Telu Ram, patrol leader Naib Sub Kuldeep Singh also swept away
Immediately after the incident, Army, SDRF & Police along with local youths launched a massive search operation from Poshana to Bafliaz to trace the missing soldiers.
Sources said that in the late evening hours, youths of the area traced & retrieved the body of one of the drowned soldiers at the Shikar Gah location (Dogra) by putting their lives at risk.
The body of L/Nk Telu Ram was recovered from the Surankote River in the afternoon on Sunday.
PRO (Defence) Jammu, Lt Col Suneel Bartwal in press briefing identified the martyrs as Naib Subedar, Kuldeep Singh resident of Chabhal Kalan (Taran Taran), and Lance Naik Telu Ram resident of Khurali (Hosiarpur), both in Punjab state.
“During an Area Domination Patrol in difficult terrain of Poonch, L/Nk Telu Ram while crossing a mountainous stream got swept away due to flash floods. Naib Sub Kuldeep Singh, the patrol leader while attempting to save L/Nk Telu Ram also lay down life. GOC, @White Knight_IA & all ranks salute the valiant soldiers & stand in solidarity with their families” read White Knight Corps Tweet.
In another tragic incident, the sole bread-earner of a poor family and working as a daily wager with the Power Development Department (PDD) died due to an electric shock while repairing an HT line in the Manyal village in Thanamandi tehsil of Rajouri district.
The deceased has been identified as Jahangeer Khan (34) s/o Abdul Aziz resident of village Amzatabad.
Family members & villagers alleged that Jahangeer died due to negligence of the concerned PDD employees who switch-on the power supply without green-signal from the deceased who was repairing faulty HT line.
Jahangeer was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.
Family members and the villagers have demanded stringent action against those responsible for the incident and also demanded suitable compensation for the family.
The police have taken cognizance of the incident and after the legal formalities reportedly have started an investigation.
In the third incident a man working with PDD namely Wajid Qureshi S/O Nawaz Ahmed resident of village Daraba (Surnakote) also died due to electric shock while repairing a defective Transformer.
In this connection a case FIR has been registered at the Surankote police station and those responsible for the incident shall be booked under relevant sections of the law.
Meanwhile, the family and the villagers have demanded a thorough investigation against the department and also demanded suitable ex-gratia relief for the next of kin of the deceased.
