Deccan Chronicle

India to pick place, time to strike back BAT had mujahideen, says BSF

Pak warns against misadventu­re as DGMOs meet

- DC CORRESPOND­ENT with agency inputs NEW DELHI, MAY 2

Pakistan will have to face the consequenc­es of mutilating bodies of two Indian soldiers and the Army will respond to the dastardly act at a time and place of its choosing, Vice-Chief of Army Staff Sarath Chand said on Tuesday.

“I do not want to say what we will do. Instead of speaking, we will focus on our action at a time and place of our choosing,” he told reporters.

“They (Pakistani army) have said it was not done by their forces. Then who did it? Their people came to our area and did it. They will have to take responsibi­lity and face the consequenc­es for it,” Gen. Chand said.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Army told the Pakistani military that mutilating bodies of the two soldiers was a “dastardly and inhuman act” which called for a response and unequivoca­l condemnati­on.

India’s Director General of Military Operations Lt.Gen. A.K. Bhatt spoke to his Pakistan counterpar­t and expressed “grave concern” about the killing and beheading of the soldiers.

The Pakistan Army asked India to produce “actionable evidence” on its claim that a Pakistani special forces team sneaked across the LoC, beheaded two Indian security personnel and mutilated their bodies.

“Any misadventu­re shall be appropriat­ely responded at a place and time of own choosing,” the Pakistan DGMO warned.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has said that the killing of two Indian soldiers and mutilating their bodies on the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday was a “well coordinate­d act” of the Pakistan Army and the neighbouri­ng country’s Border Action Team (BAT).

“It was a well coordinate­d act between the Pakistan Army and the BAT as the Indian patrol party came under simultaneo­us fire from four sides,” a senior BSF officer said on Tuesday.

He also said that the BAT which mutilated the corpses of Army’s Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar comprises terrorists in the garb of ‘mujahideen’ (holy warriors).

The officer said the fact that the attack took place a day after Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the LoC in PoK’s in the Haji Pir sector, which is not far from Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch, cannot be overlooked either.

BSF’s Additional Director General (ADG) Western Command, K.N. Choubey, told reporters in Jammu that the Pakistani troops carried out unprovoked rocket and forward mortar firing on two forward posts on the LoC and that the the BAT team took advantage of it and mutilated the bodies of the jawans.

“When the team was going for regular line maintenanc­e, two FDL (Forward Defence Locati ons) from Pakistan’s side and two ambushes which they had set up started firing simultaneo­usly. Our jawans were engaged in this. In between this, the BAT action, which consists of regular army and mujahideen­s and trained militants, took advantage and mutilated bodies of our two jawans,” he said.

Replying questions, he said that though he would not like to comment on it, no one can deny the fact that the attack and the act of mutilating the soldiers’ bodies came a day after the Pakistan Army Chief had visited the LoC in neighbouri­ng Hari Pir sector.

 ??  ?? Sahildeep Singh salutes the coffin of his father, Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh, after it was brought to their village Vain Poin, 40 km from Amritsar. Naib Subedar Singh was killed on Monday by the Pakistan Army and his body mutilated.
Sahildeep Singh salutes the coffin of his father, Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh, after it was brought to their village Vain Poin, 40 km from Amritsar. Naib Subedar Singh was killed on Monday by the Pakistan Army and his body mutilated.
 ?? — PTI ?? MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju lays a wreath on the coffin of BSF head constable Prem Sagar after it was brought at Palam Airport in New Delhi on Tuesday. When the body was taken to Lucknow, the jawan’s family members demanded that the coffin be opened....
— PTI MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju lays a wreath on the coffin of BSF head constable Prem Sagar after it was brought at Palam Airport in New Delhi on Tuesday. When the body was taken to Lucknow, the jawan’s family members demanded that the coffin be opened....

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