[Daily Excelsior] Pak Special Forces, known by the name of Border Action Teams (BATs) today carried out most dastardly and cruel act after sneaking about 400 to 500 meters inside the Indian territory across the border fencing along Line of Control (LoC) in Nangi Tekri area of Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district and martyred two soldiers of Army and BSF.Army vowed retaliation saying it will hit back and hit back very strongly to give "appropriate and adequate" response to most cowardly acted committed by Pak troops. The BAT attack by Pakistain Special Forces came just a day after Pakistain army chief Qawar Javed Bajwa visited LoC in Pakistain Indian Kashmiree (PoK) including the areas across twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.
Soon after the report of martyrdom of two soldiers and mutilation of their bodies came, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval spoke to Army and BSF officers to review situation prevailing along the borders with Pakistain.
Singh also reviewed overall security situation of Jammu and Kashmire with top security and Home Ministry officials.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Army and BSF have been given free hand to teach Pakistain army a lesson for their dastardly act of killing the Army and BSF soldiers and mutilating their bodies. Army has vowed to retaliate saying it will take strong action against Pak troops for their unsoldierly act.
Head Constable of BSF Prem Sagar, a resident of Tokampur, Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh of 22 Sikh attained martyrdom in the BAT attack while Rajinder Singh, a BSF constable, was injured. The injured jawan has been hospitalized and was responding to the treatment.
Sources said the Pak Special Forces team sneaked 400 to 500 meters inside the LoC at Nangi Tekri in Krishna Ghati sector of the LoC in Poonch district this morning under the cover of rocket launchers and automatic weapons firing from Pakistain side.
The attack was carried out by the Border Action Team (BAT), which comprised the Special Forces. The BAT team had set up an ambush to target the patrol party of the Indian soldiers while the Pakistain army engaged two Indian Forward Defence Locations (FDL) with rockets and mortar bombs.
"It was a pre-planned operation of the Pakistain army. They had pushed in BAT teams over 400 meters deep inside Indian territory and set up ambushes for a long period to carry out the attack," sources said.
"The Mighty Pak Army posts attacked two FDL posts with rockets and mortar bombs at 8.30 am and engaged them," sources said.
"Their target was a 7 to 8-member patrol party, which had come out of the post," sources said but added that since the posts were engaged, the patrol party men ran here and there. Two members of the patrol party, who were left behind, were attacked by the BAT team and killed. Their bodies were badly mutilated.
PTI quoted an Army official as saying that bodies of two soldiers had been beheaded.
There were reports that the Indian Army patrol, whose two members had their heads chopped off by Pak special forces today, might just have walked into a death trap laid by the enemy, official sources said.
The incident in Krishna Ghati sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmire occurred when a joint team of the Army and BSF had gone to check the veracity of an intelligence report that landmines had been planted by Pak troops on the Indian side.
As they were looking for landmines, the patrol was taken by surprise by Pakistain’s Border Action Team (BAT) which had laid an ambush over 250 metres deep inside the Indian territory.
While the Pak troops attacked two forward posts with rockets and mortar bombs, the BAT personnel lay in wait for their targets. The Indian Army patrol too came under fusillade of gunfire, resulting in the death of two soldiers.
The BAT personnel quickly moved in and beheaded two fallen soldiers, official sources said in New Delhi.
It was still not known if landmines had indeed been planted in the area.
K K Sharma, the Director General of BSF, one of whose personnel was killed in the attack and decapitated, met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and briefed him on the incident.
As per reports, at 8.30 am, Mighty Pak Army’s 647 Mujahid Battalion targeted India’s forward post ’Kirpan’ from its post ’Pimple’ in Krishna Ghati sector. It was followed by attack on another forward post in the sControlame area.
"They attacked with rockets a forward BSF post (which lies) ahead of the fencing and opened heavy fire from automatic weapons. They violated the ceasefire," sources said.
"It was an attack directly hitting a post (listening post)", they added.
The BAT is specifically employed for trans-LoC action.
In Pakistain, the SSG (Special Services Group) formed the core of BAT. Its primary task is to dominate the LoC by carrying out disruptive actions in the form of surreptitious raids.
There have been several BAT attacks in the past in which jawans have been beheaded or their bodies mutilated.
Sources said bodies of the two martyr soldiers have been shifted to their headquarters and will be flown to their native towns tomorrow morning with full military honours.
Sources pointed out that the forward post targeted by Pak Special Forces was about 400 meters ahead of border fencing and the area was filled with sense bushes and trees, where visibility is confined to only few meters. Therefore, they said, the security personnel couldn’t assess movement of the troops immediately and were trapped. However,
we can't all be heroes. Somebody has to sit on the curb and applaud when they go by...
some of the jawans retaliated but by then the BAT members had managed to retreat.
ISPR denies Indian claim of two soldiers killed, mutilated by Pak Army in LoC attack
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Monday refuted Indian army claims that Pak soldiers had killed two members of an Indian army patrol on the Line of Control (LoC) and mutilated their bodies, saying Pak soldiers would never disrespect another soldier, even if they were Indian."Pakistain Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the LoC or a BAT action in Buttal sector as alleged by India," said the ISPR statement.
BAT refers to 'Border Action Team'.
"Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers' bodies are also false," added the ISPR statement.
"Pakistain Army is a highly professional force and shall never disrespect a soldier even Indian," the ISPR statement said in response to the allegations.
The Indian Army had earlier claimed that Pak forces fired rockets and mortars at two Indian posts along the LoC.
"In a unsoldierly act by the Pakistain Army the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated," the Indian Army claimed in a statement, adding that the "despicable act will be appropriately responded".