Infiltrators planned to ambush patrol ahead of Pm-sharif meeting at UN
NEW DELHI: A day after the Indian Army denied any “Kargil-type” intrusion into the Keran sector of Kashmir, the troops surrounded the Shala Batu village in the densely forested mountainous terrain to take out the large group of Pakistani infiltrators who have not fired a shot in the past 48 hours.
In a narrative contrary to the army’s version, top government sources reveal that the plan of the 30-35 infiltrators, who took refuge in the village abandoned since 1990s, was to ambush a patrol on the Line of Control (LOC) on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York on September 29. The village, located beyond the fence, is 500-600 metres within the Indian side of LOC.
Kashmir watchers in government say the possibility of Pakistan’s special forces entering or aiding the infiltrators was “very remote” as not a single round of cover fire has come from the other side. Latest reports through technical inputs indicate that there is no one in the village but the army is treading cautiously to avoid any fidayeen attack. There are also concerns that the area may have been booby-trapped. “There has been no response from the infiltrators since October 1 to the army’s fire,” said a Kashmir expert.
On September 24-25 night, the Army detected movement of militants drawn from different organisations. Subsequent reports showed that the group had taken shelter in the abandoned village. In a bid to avoid casualties in the hostile terrain, the army planned the operation with extra care.
Given the mountainous terrain, helicopters were used to induct troops in support of the 3/3 Gorkha Rifles unit in the sector. However, the issue got complicated when the army claimed that it had gunned down 15 infiltrators but there were no recoveries in terms of bodies or weapons. Sources said the army was gearing up to move into the village after the path is cleared of any landmines and other explosive devices. NEW DELHI: BJP’S prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s ‘toilet first, temple later’ comment has put his party in a spot with a Hindutva body and the Congress slamming it for different reasons.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Praveen Togadia described the comment as “insult” to the Hindu society and sought condemnation from the BJP, which had taken rural development minister Jairam Ramesh to task when he had made a similar comment.
Ramesh said, “I had also said the same thing, and the BJP had opposed it. It is a matter of regret that nobody defended me then.” The minister known for his controversial comments said that he spoke of toilets out of “conviction” whereas Modi’s remark is out of electoral “compulsion”.
Modi had said on Wednesday while addressing students in New Delhi, “My image is that of Hindutva, but I’ll tell you my real thinking: I have said, in my state, ‘Pehle shauchalaya, phir devalaya’ (First toilets, then temples)”.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh described Modi’s comment as another example of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s double standards and asked whether Modi had ever cleaned tiolets.
The only BJP leader to react to the Congress attack, Kirti Azad said described the ruling party as a “headless chicken” which fails to understand the context of what Modi was saying.