A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the Indian Army on Thursday sacrificed his life in the line of duty, while a joint team of the security forces gunned down an “unidentified” terrorist during a fierce gunfight in Thanamandi area of Rajouri.
Defence spokesman in Jammu Lt-Col Devender Anand said during an encounter with terrorists in Thanamandi area of Rajouri, one JCO of Rashtriya Rifles suffered bullet injuries.
The JCO was immediately evacuated to a nearest medical facility but he succumbed to his injuries. The JCO has been identified as Subedar Ram Singh of Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand.
One AK rifle, a pistol and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site by the security forces. This is the third encounter which took place in the frontier district in the last one month.
In Kashmir valley, another political activist currently working with Jammu and Kashmir Apni party was shot dead from a close range by “unidentified” terrorists in Devsar area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
He has been identified as Ghulam Hassan Lone. He was previously associated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and had recently switched over the sides and joined J&K Apni party.
So far, five persons, including four political leaders and one minor, have been eliminated by the terrorists in these targeted strikes across Jammu and Kashmir.
On Tuesday, a local BJP leader Javed Ahmad Dar was killed mercilessly in Brazloo Jageer area of Kulgam.
J&K Apni party president Syed Altaf Bukhari has condemned the cowardly act of killing Apni party’s prominent political worker Ghulam Hassan Lone. Bukhari termed the incident “barbaric” and conveyed deep anguish over the innocent killings of political activists who lay down their lives for the public welfare. Several other Kashmir valley based leaders, including former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and Chairman of the Peoples Conference Sajad Lone, condemned the political killing of J&K Apni party leader.