Close on the heels of the high-level security review meeting, chaired by Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi to chalk out a strategy to flush out Pakistani terrorists occupying ‘Jammu Heights’, a heavily armed group of terrorists launched two more frontal attacks on an Army post and the house of the Shaurya Chakra awardee in the Gunda village of Khawas tehsil in the frontier Rajouri district in the wee hours of Monday.
Following these fresh attacks, the entire security grid has been alerted to conduct a fresh audit of the security arrangements given the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Drass to participate in the Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations marking 25 years of Victory in the Kargil war.
The Village Defence Group member Parshotam Kumar remained unscathed in the attack while one of his close relatives received minor injuries during the firing incident.
It is the first such attempt in recent months where terrorists brazenly targeted a member of the village defence guard. Official sources claimed the foreign terrorists were reportedly briefed about the presence of Shaurya Chakra awardee in the village and local over-ground workers must have shared the exact coordinates with the terrorists to target him.
Kumar was bestowed the Shaurya Chakra, the peacetime equivalent of war’s Vir Chakra by the President of India on July 5 in New Delhi. According to the citation, “Last year in August 2023, Kumar, armed with an outmoded, inferior rifle had taken on two highly trained guerrilla warfare terrorists of the PAFF-Jaish, who were equipped with sophisticated assault rifles and grenades. Unmindful of his safety, he tailed the two terrorists and (displaying) raw courage and excellent field craft, he closed in on the terrorists and engaged them from a close distance. He maintained contact with the other till (security) forces closed in. His brave act led to the neutralisation of one foreign terrorist.”
Soon after thwarting the terror attack a hot chase was launched by the joint team of security forces to track down the footprints of terrorists. Special forces were also inducted in the ongoing operations spread across the thickly forested area.
In a post on X, White Knight Corps said, “ Terrorists attacked the house of a VDC at Gunda, Rajouri at 3.10 am. A nearby Army column reacted and a firefight ensued. In another update the White Knight Corps posted on X, “Indian Army acted on intelligence, anticipating the threat to a Village Defence Guard in a remote area in Rajouri - Reasi. Tactical teams swiftly intervened, ensuring no harm to the VDC member and his family. Operations are continuing and a firefight is in progress”.
Additional troops remained stationed in the area during the day to instil confidence among the fear-stricken residents.
The villagers also raised the demand to equip the local village defence guards with modern weapons to tackle the growing threat of terrorist violence in the remote areas of the Jammu region.
To counter the growing threat of terrorism in the Jammu region the Indian Army has already inducted more than 3,000 troops and 500 para commandos to launch massive combing operations to neutralise Pakistani terrorists active in the area.
According to a preliminary assessment over 50 Pakistani terrorists have infiltrated inside the Indian territory to launch targeted strikes on the security forces.
