There is no let-up in border tensions between India and Pakistan, even as India is cautiously weighing down its military options to avenge the killing of 26 innocent citizens of India, massacred while they were holidaying with their families in the picturesque valley of Baisaran on April 22.
On ground zero, the public anger is also rising in the absence of any concrete action against the perpetrators behind the ‘horrific’ killing of tourists.
Ten days after the massacre took place, the joint team of security forces is still combing the thickly forested areas of South Kashmir and several other adjoining escape routes to neutralise/capture them alive. It is believed that the Pakistani terrorists, trained in jungle warfare, were still hiding in the deep jungles and evading security forces at the behest of their handlers. The security forces chasing them have also learnt that these terrorists were relying on an encrypted communication system to stay in touch with their handlers and seek instructions.
The communication equipment used by the foreign terrorists was capable of short-range encrypted transmissions, making it difficult for the agencies to trace them, as it can be operated without using SIM cards.
Meanwhile, the situation along the line of control also remains volatile as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire agreement along the line of control for the seventh time in a row, opening unprovoked fire on several forward Indian posts in the Kupwara, Uri and Akhnoor sectors of Jammu and Kashmir on the night of April 30-May 1.
If the situation persists, the Indian army may switch over to a more aggressive posturing and launch punitive strikes on targets to dismantle terror factories along the line of control. So far, the Indian army is retaliating using small arms fire to silence the Pakistani guns.
In Pahalgam, the chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Sadanand Date, inspected the site of the April 22 terror attack and held discussions with the senior officials of the agency working on the case. After questioning a large number of suspected overground workers and several others present in the Baisaran valley, the NIA teams, aided by forensic and other experts, are checking the entire area thoroughly for evidence to expose the terror conspiracy that led to the attack on April 22.
It is learnt that the group of Pakistani terrorists, along with their local handlers, have conducted a proper recce of the Baisaran valley and other tourist hot spots like Aru and Betab valley before launching the attack. The terrorists zeroed in on the Baisaran valley due to the presence of a large number of tourists in the area, the absence of security personnel, and poor road connectivity, which provided them enough opportunity to run away from the spot after the attack.
In Udhampur, Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma on Thursday assumed charge as the general officer commanding-in-chief of the Indian Army’s Northern Command.
He succeeded Lt Gen M V Suchindra Kumar, who superannuated on April 30.
“Lt Gen Sharma assumed the appointment of GOC-in-C, Northern Command, today. The general officer has rich operational experience. He commanded an infantry battalion, brigade and division along the Line of Control, and has commanded a strike corps in the Western Sector,” the defence ministry said in a statement. Lt Gen Sharma is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.
He was commissioned into the Madras Regiment in December 1987.