A day after shunting out three senior officers including the Brigade Commander of the 13 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, pending a formal court of Inquiry into the recovery of three civilian dead bodies under mysterious circumstances in the Surankote area of Poonch, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Monday urged Army commanders on the ground to conduct operations in the “most professional manner”.
Four soldiers were ‘killed in action’ during the ambush of two army vehicles by the foreign terrorists on December 21 in the Dera Ki Gali area of Surankote
The three civilians along with six others were picked up for questioning from the Topa Peer village in connection with the attack on the army vehicles.
After the residents and aggrieved families alleged they were killed in custody, the Army authorities launched an internal probe into the matter.
“General Manoj Pande COAS visited the Poonch sector and was given an update on the prevalent security situation. COAS interacted with commanders on the ground, and exhorted them to conduct the operations most professionally and remain resolute & steadfast against all challenges,” the additional directorate general of public information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
During his day-long visit, the Army Chief visited the Dera Ki Gali and took stock of the ongoing anti-terrorist operations to flush out the terrorists and later interacted with the senior officers in Rajouri. The Army Chief was also briefed by the GoC 16 Corps, Lt Gen Sandeep Jain about the ongoing counter-terrorist operations. He was also briefed about the steps taken to further strengthen the security grid and the death of the three civilians.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have also launched a formal investigation into the case after registering a first information report (FIR) under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder) in connection with the death of the three civilians. The FIR against unknown men was registered at the Surankote police station on Friday evening.
