In an audacious daylight operation that is bound to test the patience of the Indian leadership, a Border Action Team (BAT) of the Pakistan Army on Monday breached the sanctity of the line of Control (loC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch and retreated after beheading the bodies of two Indian soldiers they had killed in an ambush.
Highly-placed sources in New Delhi said the BAT action, including the mutilation of bodies, took place within a span of five to seven minutes. The BAT team, comprising terrorists and highly trained commandos of Special Services Group (SSG) of the Pakistan Army, infiltrated about 250 metres into the Indian territory soon after the jawans of the 647 Mujahid Battalion of the Pakistan Army started firing Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG’s) and resorted to mortar firing on the Indian posts to give them cover.
In the ensuing melee, the BAT team sneaked in and targeted a ten-member joint patrol team of the Indian Army and Border Security Force (BSF), sources said.
The Indian team was proceeding from forward Indian posts Kirpan 1 and Kirpan 2 located about 600 metres apart, when they came under attack from Pakistan Army’s Pimple post around 8.40 am.
Officials said the raid-cum-ambush seemed to have been well-planned as the local commanders on the other side of the loC had reportedly monitored the movement pattern of Indian patrols for some days before launching the attack.
Asked how the raiding team managed to infiltrate into a well-guarded zone, sources said the ambush site is a thickly forested and semi-mountainous area that makes it easy for infiltration by BAT teams of four to five trained fighters. Moreover, Pakistan Army in that area has the advantage of terrain as its posts are located higher than Indian posts.
To ensure the safe return of the BAT team Pakistan Army is learnt to have resorted to ‘unprovoked’ firing in the same sector again.
“Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked rocket and mortar firing on two forward posts on the loC in Krishna Ghati Sector this morning,” a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
“Simultaneously, a BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts,” said a statement issued by the Northern Army Command.
“In an unsoldierly act by the Pakistan Army, the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol party were mutilated,” the spokesman said, adding “Such a despicable act of the Pakistan Army will be appropriately responded”.
The badly mutilated bodies of the jawans were recovered by the Indian soldiers from close to the loC amid heavy volume firing from the Pakistani side.
Meanwhile, the entire security grid across the loC has been put in a State of high alert and field commanders have been interacting with the soldiers to boost their morale.
The soldiers killed were identified as Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh of 22 Sikh Infantry and Head Constable Prem Sagar, hailing from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh, of 200th Battalion of BSF. A BSF Constable Rajinder Singh was also injured but is out of danger.
The surprise BAT action was carried out by the Pakistan Army after a gap of 14 days. An Indian soldier was killed in sniper fire in Poonch on April 18.
In addition, seven ceasefire violations were reported in April along the loC in Poonch and Rajouri sectors of Jammu & Kashmir.