IT Correspondent
Mumbai, Oct 12:
Five Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and four jawans, were killed in an encounter between security forces and hiding militants in Poonch-Rajouri districts in Jammu & Kashmir on Monday.
The counter Terrorist operation was launched by the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police in the area of Shahdara, near the boundary of Poonch-Rajouri districts in J&K on Sunday night which went on till Monday.
The militants were hiding in different parts. During the conduct of the operation, terrorists brought down a heavy volume of fire on to Army troops leading to fatal injuries to one JCO and four soldiers.
“Based on intelligence inputs, the Army had launched a cordon and search operation in villages close to Dera Ki Gali in Surankote area of Poonch. In the ensuing firefight, one JCO and four jawans suffered critical injuries. They were shifted to the nearest medical facility but succumbed to their injuries, a Defence spokesman said.
The gallant JCO and soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty were identified as Naib Subedar Jaswinder Singh, Naik Mandeep Singh, Sepoy Gajjan Singh-all from Punjab, Sepoy Saraj Singh (Uttar Pradesh), and Sepoy Vaisakh H(Kerala). The nation will always remain indebted to our Bravehearts for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty, the Army said while condoling the death.
After the initial encounter, the terrorists fled to nearby Bhangai village which falls in the Rajouri district, and the encounter is still in progress. Three to four heavily armed militants are suspected to be hiding in the tough terrain with a dense forest cover. No casualty to the militants has been confirmed so far.
