Pak forces kill, mutilate 2 soldiers; India retaliates

Pak Army suffers ‘considerable losses’ in revenge attack: Sources

Pakistani troops sneaked about 250 meters into the Indian side of the LoC in J&K on Monday and mutilated the bodies of two Indian jawans after they were killed, sparking widespread outrage and prompting an Army offensive to avenge the barbarism. Defence sources said that the Pakistan Army has suffered “considerable losses” in India’s retaliatory fire.

India’s Army said the bodies of naib subedar Paramjit Singh and BSF head constable Prem Sagar were mutilated. However, defence sources said they were beheaded. BSF constable Rajinder Singh was also injured in the attack carried out by Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) comprising soldiers of the Pakistani special forces under cover of heavy mortar fire in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch.

Defence minister Arun Jaitley condemned the “reprehensible and an inhuman act.” “Such acts don’t take place even during war. It is an extreme form of barbarism. The whole country has full faith in our armed forces, which will react appropriately. The sacrifice of these soldiers will not go in vain”, he said.

In response to the “despicable act”, the Indian Army vowed an “appropriate” response even as Army chief Bipin Rawat rushed to Srinagar.

At about 8:40 am, even as the Pakistan Army attacked two Indian

The government swung into immediate action after receiving information of bodies of two Indian soldiers being mutilated by the Pakistan Army with home minister Rajnath Singh chairing a high-level meeting with top security and intelligence officials to discuss the incidents and security along the Indo-Pak border. Among those present were R&AW chief Anil Dasmana, director Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officials.

The meeting discussed a detailed report forwarded by BSF on the incident. A BSF head constable Prem Sagar and Army’s Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh were killed and their bodies mutilated while another BSF constable Rajinder Singh was injured in the attack though he is reported complete security for BSF personnel deployed along the border, especially along the forward posts that are situated ahead of the fencing.

“Perhaps our security forces were caught unawares by the sudden attack by BAT as they apparently were distracted by heavy firing from the Pakistani post,” a security official said.

Intelligence reports available with the home ministry also claimed that the BAT, which entered 200 meters inside Indian territory, comprised members of Pak Army’s special services group (SSG) and militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

The BSF too informed the Central government that Indian security personnel did not violate the LoC and were inside their own territory and it was Pak BAT which crossed over and attacked the patrolling team.