Army Chief General Manoj Pande is likely to visit Jammu to review the security situation and discuss the measures needed urgently to further strengthen the counter-terrorism grid.
The recent surge in terrorist strikes in areas south of Pir Panjal has already caused a lot of heartburn in the security grid in the region. A change of guard in the Nagrota-based 16 corps is already on the cards. The incumbent Lt Gen Sandeep Jain is scheduled to hand over the baton to Lt Gen Naveen Sachdev.
Meanwhile the mortal remains of four soldiers, who sacrificed their lives when two army vehicles were ambushed by highly trained foreign terrorists in the Dera Ki Gali area of Surankote tehsil in Poonch on December 21, were dispatched to their native places after a formal wreath-laying
ceremony in Rajouri on Sunday.
On the other hand, a search operation to track down the fleeing terrorists continued near the scene of the ambush, while mobile internet services remained suspended in the twin districts for the second day on Sunday.
The family members of soldiers also attended the solemn ceremony where Army commander of the Northern Command Lt-Gen Upendra Dwivedi led from the front and offered floral tributes to the bravehearts.
The soldiers Naik Birender Singh of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, Rifleman Gautam Kumar of Pauri Gharwal, Uttarakhand, Naik Karan Kumar of Kanpur, and Rifleman Chandan Kumar of Nawada in Bihar made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. Lt Gen Dwivedi interacted with the next of kin of the slain soldiers at the wreath-laying ceremony.
General Officer Commanding of Jammu-based White Knight Corps Lt Gen Sandeep Jain, Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Vikas Kundal, Senior Superintendent of Police, Rajouri Amritpal Singh and other officers and ranks of the Army also paid floral tributes.
The residents in Rajouri also paid rich tributes as the cavalcade of army vehicles, carrying mortal remains, passed through the area.
A large number of people, standing atop rooftops, saluted the mortal remains and shouted patriotic slogans.
