Even as the Indian Army is maintaining high alert in the frontier districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the run-up to the Republic Day celebrations no major headway has been achieved in tracking down the footprints of the foreign terrorists behind one of the most provocative strikes on two Army vehicles in the Dera ki Gali area of Poonch on December 21, 2023.
Four Indian soldiers were ‘killed in action’ and three others were injured in the ambush.
The Indian army personnel were passing through the Thannamandi-Surankote road link in two separate vehicles including one gypsy and an army truck at the time of the attack.
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.
During the last month, the Indian army has launched several combing and search operations in the thickly forested belt of Surankote but to date, no major success has been achieved. On the other hand, an internal probe ordered by the Indian army into the recovery of three civilian dead bodies under mysterious circumstances in the Surankote area of Poonch is also going on.
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.
So far, after shunting out the senior officers including the Brigade Commander of the 13 Sector Rashtriya Rifles the Indian army has rushed additional troops into the region to further intensify their anti-terrorist operations to neutralize terrorists hiding in the area taking advantage of the undulating terrain and natural cave-like structures.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with Army Chief General Manoj Pande also visited the forward areas and took stock of the prevailing security situation.
