Terrorists in a cordon had dinner in a religious place on Sunday
Shyam Sood
Rajouri, Nov 22: In a shocking currently underway terror operation at least three Indian soldiers, including two Captains, have attained martyrdom in dense forests in Bajimaal-Gulabgarh area under the jurisdiction of Dharamsal police station in Kalakot subdivision of Rajouri district of UT of J&K.
The contact with a group of reportedly two foreign terrorists was established in the morning hours on Wednesday after an intense Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched jointly by J&K police, 63 RR and 9 Para (Special Force) after specific information about the terrorists in this area.
During the fierce encounter at least six soldiers, including two captains & a Major, received serious injuries.
Major was rescued to Army (63 RR) facility at Kalakot and after initial treatment airlifted to Command Hospital at Udhampur where his condition is said to be stable.
Deceased have been identified as Capt MV Pranjal (RR), Capt Shubham (Para) & Havildar Abdul Majid (Para) and the injured is Major Mishra.
Both the captains and a subedar attained martyrdom on the spot and at the time of filing this report only the body of one captain could be retrieved from the encounter site.
The Army has yet not confirmed how many soldiers have attained martyrdom/injured in the ongoing encounter. However, a X (Tweet) of White Knight Corps read: @Whiteknight_IA
Based on specific intelligence Joint Operations launched in #Kalakote Area #Gulabgarh forest #Rajouri, District on 19 Nov 23. Contact was established on 22 Nov and intense firefight ensued. The terrorists have been injured and surrounded and operations are in progress, amidst acts of valour and sacrifice by own brave hearts in trying to prevent collateral damage to women and children in the highest traditions of #IndianArmy.#Whiteknightcorps salutes the supreme sacrifice.@adgpi@NorthernComd_IA”.
Reliable sources said that in the ongoing fire fight one terrorist was also killed and the second is continuously obstructing the army to retrieve the bodies of another officer and subedar.
Sources said this group of 3 JeM terrorists was first spotted on November 17 in Broth village of Budhal block and SFs killed one unidentified terrorist.
On Sunday (November 19) at about 8 pm these two terrorists had dinner in a langer of a prominent religious leader (Bazi) at Gulabgarh despite objections by the locals.
“The labourers at a religious place said after taking dinner both the terrorists disappeared in the forest. The police & Army were informed, an operation was launched in the entire area to flush out the terrorists and we were not allowed to go to our homes,” said one among the labourers.
Sources added, on Tuesday these terrorists thrashed a resident of nearby Bajimaal village for refusing food.
Again, SFs were informed and on Tuesday afternoon, Police, 63 RR and Para unit launched CASO. On Wednesday morning the contact was established, and the operation is still in progress.
It is pertinent to mention here that during the last 26 months, 29 soldiers have attained martyrdom, and 9 civilians were killed in Pakistan sponsored terror incidents in Rajouri & Poonch districts while only 4-5 terrorists have been killed during this period.
