'Leopard urine helped troops to keep dogs away during surgical strikes'

The Indian soldiers who carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) in September, 2016 used an unusual weapon apart from firepower: leopard urine and feces.

Apparently, it kept away the village dogs that could otherwise have given away the soldiers' movement in the darkness.

The detail was recounted by Lt Gen. (retd) Rajendra Nimbhorkar, who was the head of the 15 Corps that looked after the security of the LoC in the Jammu region, and who played a key role in the planning of the attack.

Speaking at a function organised by the Thorle Bajirao Peshwe Pratishthan (trust) here, where he was felicitated on Tuesday, Nimbhorkar said the planners had to bear in mind that the dogs in the villages along the LoC could alert the enemy troops.

“When I was the brigade commander in the Noushera sector (earlier in his career), I had observed that there were often leopard attacks on the dogs there and the dogs stayed away from the area at night fearing leopards,” Nimbhorkar said.

“When the strikes were being planed, we took the possibility of the presence of dogs into consideration... the dogs could have barked when our troops were crossing the LoC.

“So our soldiers spread leopard urine and feces along the route, which helped keep the dogs away,” Nimbhorkar said.