STATE TIMES NEWS
Rajouri/Jammu: Top security officials on Saturday visited the site of the April 20 terrorist attack on an army truck in Poonch and reviewed the major search and cordon operation launched in the area as any breakthrough eluded the forces for the second day.
Thousands of mourners including local MPs and MLAs gathered as the five jawans, who were martyred when their truck was ambushed while carrying fruits and other items to a forward village for Iftar to be hosted by the Rashtriya Rifles unit on Thursday evening, were cremated with full military honours in their native villages.
Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, BSF Director General S L Thaosen and ADGP Mukesh Singh, besides an NSG team visited the attack site at Bhata Dhurian, an area that has remained a preferred infiltration route for terrorists from across the Line of Control because of its topography, dense forest cover and natural caves.
Dwivedi reviewed the security in the border area and the ongoing combing operation to track down the terrorists. The Northern Command said in a tweet that he was briefed on the actions undertaken so far and exhorted the troops to be steadfast in their resolve.
Officials said that around 15-16 people have been detained for questioning.
A high alert has been sounded in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch and traffic has been suspended on the Rajouri-Poonch Highway, they said.
Subdued Eid in Sangiote border hamlet
Poonch: Villagers of the border hamlet of Sangiote in Poonch district did not celebrate Eid with much enthusiasm on Saturday as they grieved the martyrdom of five Indian soldiers when an Army truck carrying material for a scheduled Iftar was ambushed by terrorists.
Sangiote has a population of more than 3,500 and over 60 per cent of the men are ex-servicemen.
“We have not celebrated Eid with any pomp and show. We just offered prayers. The people are saddened by the death of jawans, who were bringing material for our Iftar on Thursday evening,” Sangiote Sarpanch Mukhtiar Khan told PTI over phone from his home.
Khan condemned the terrorist attack and said the entire village decided to have a muted Eid by offering only prayers. He said special prayers were offered for the fallen soldiers.
Expressing solidarity with the Indian Army and the families of the jawans, he said an Iftar was scheduled in the village on Thursday evening and the jawans were ferrying vegetables, fruits and other material in the truck from Bhimber Gali camp, when they came under attack at Bhata Dhurian.
The soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations.
The whole village stands with the Army, Khan said. “After Eid prayers, we are staying back at
“The cordon-and-search operation is going on in large areas of Bhata Dhurian-Tota Gali and neighbouring areas to hunt down the terrorists involved in the attack. Multiple security agencies are engaged in the operation,” a senior officer told PTI.
In October 2021, nine soldiers were killed in two major gunfights with terrorists within four days in the Bhata Dhurian forest area during a search operation, which continued for over three weeks with no trace of terrorists.
The troops involved in the operation are exercising utmost caution as the terrorists may have planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the densely forested area with deep gorges and caves, officials said.
The mortal remains of Havildar Mandeep