Three top-ranking officers, including a Commanding officer (CO) of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles of the Indian Army, a Major and a Deputy Superintendent of Jammu & Kashmir police were ‘killed in action’ during an encounter with terrorists in the Kokernag area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday.
The officials killed in action have been identified as Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish Dhonchak, Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat.
In a tweet, General (Retd) VK Singh, currently holding the charge of Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation paid rich tributes in the memory of Colonel Manpreet Singh who laid down his life in the line of duty.
It is after a long gap three senior-most officers were killed in action in a single operation in the Kashmir valley.
Security experts viewed the killing of three senior officers as a serious threat as it also establishes the fact that the terrorists have once again started regrouping and tactically targeting security forces in the valley.
Earlier, on May 3, 2020, Col Aushutosh Sharma, a Major rank officer, and three other jawans were martyred during an 18-hour-long operation in north Kashmir’s Handwara.
According to agency reports, the banned Resistance Front, believed to be a shadow group of LeT, has claimed responsibility.
According to ground reports, senior officer of the Chinar Corps Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, DGP Dilbagh Singh, and ADGP Kashmir range Vijay Kumar also rushed to the encounter site after receiving initial reports of fatal injuries to senior officers.
Official sources said a helicopter was pressed into service to evacuate the critically injured officers from the spot but one of them died on the spot while two others succumbed to their injuries later.
Official sources said CO Manpreet Singh belongs to the Ropar district of Punjab while Humayun Bhat is a resident of south Kashmir’s Tral sub-district. The anti-terrorist operation was launched by the joint team of security forces in the Garol area of Anantnag on the intervening night of 12-13 September.
Chinar Corps in a tweet said, “Based on specific intelligence on the presence of terrorists a Joint Operation was launched by the Indian Army & J&K Police on the intervening night of 12-13 Sep in Area Garol, Anantnag. Contact was established and a firefight ensued. Two Army personnel and one J&K Police personnel were injured. Operation in progress”.With the first light, the hunt for the terrorists was resumed as the security forces had received vital inputs about the presence of terrorists in the said area.
According to ground reports, the commanding officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles was leading the operation when a group of terrorists opened fire on the advancing team of security forces near their hideout in the area.
Meanwhile, In Jammu’s Rajouri, security forces killed one more terrorist in the Narla area on Wednesday. An army jawan identified as Rifleman Ravi Kumar was killed in action on Tuesday in the same encounter while three other security personnel were injured,
Interacting with the media persons in Jammu Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Wednesday said . Pakistan is making full efforts to infiltrate foreign terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir to hinder the progress being made in internal security conditions in the region.
He said that the army has tried to neutralize foreign terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri and Poonch.
“The biggest thing is that Pakistan is trying to make efforts from its side to send foreign terrorists here, despite the better internal conditions (security situation), so that they can create some kind of obstacle.
“This is because of the progress that we are making in Jammu and Kashmir”, Lt Gen Dwivedi told reporters on the sidelines of the North Tech Symposium at the IIT campus at Jagti on the outskirts of Jammu city.