In a wreath-laying ceremony held on Friday, the Indian Army paid tribute to the five brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in a recent encounter with terrorists in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The encounter, which took place earlier this week, resulted in the tragic loss of five Army personnel and left two others injured. During the operation, security forces successfully neutralized two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including a high-ranking commander believed to be the mastermind behind several attacks in the region.
The soldiers who laid down their lives have been identified as Captain MV Pranjal from Karnataka’s Mangalore, Captain Shubham Gupta from Uttar Pradesh’s Agra, Havaldar Abdul Majid from Ajote in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, Lance Naik Sanjay Bisht from Uttarakhand’s Halli Padli, and Paratrooper Sachin Laur from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh, as reported by news agency PTI.
The encounter in Rajouri unfolded in a remote and rugged terrain, where a fierce gunbattle ensued between the terrorists and a combined team of the Indian Army and local police. The slain LeT terrorist, known by his code name “Qari,” had been actively operating in the Rajouri-Poonch region for the past year. He was not only a prominent figure within the extremist outfit but was also believed to be the mastermind behind several heinous attacks in the region, including the infamous Dangri and Kandi attacks. His primary mission was to revive terrorism in the area and orchestrate the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to destabilize the region.
Moreover, incriminating materials, including a cache of arms and ammunition, were recovered from their hideout during the operations. The bodies of the terrorists have been retrieved and are undergoing further medico-legal formalities by the police. It is pertinent to note that the terrorist killed, Qari was an expert in IEDs, hiding in and operating from caves, and was also a trained sniper.
