Cordon-&-search operation enters Day 2, top officials visit terror attack site

Poonch/Jammu: A cordon-and-search operation backed up by drones and sniffer dogs to trace the terrorists who killed five Army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch entered the second day on Saturday.

Top security officials, including Border Security Force (BSF) Director General S L Thaosen and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh, besides those from the National Security Guard (NSG), visited the spot during a security review of the border belt.

Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday also visited the site. He reviewed the security in the border area and the ongoing combing operation to track down the terrorists who ambushed the Army truck on Thursday.

Fourteen people were detained for questioning, officials said, adding that some of them have been let off.

Meanwhile, scores of people on Saturday bid a tearful adieu to the four soldiers from Punjab who were killed in the Poonch terror attack, amid chants of ‘Shaheed Amar Rahe’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.

The mortal remains of the four soldiers — Havildar Mandeep Singh from Chankoian village, Lance Naik Kulwant Singh from Charik village, Sepoy Harkrishan Singh from Talwandi village and Sepoy Sewak Singh from Bagha village — were consigned to the flames with full military honours.

They were among the five soldiers killed on Thursday after their vehicle was attacked by unidentified terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and caught fire because of the likely use of grenades. The fifth soldier killed in the attack hailed from Odisha. The bodies of the four soldiers reached their native places on Saturday morning.

Slogans of ‘Shaheed Amar Rahe’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ rent the air as Kulwant’s body reached his village in Moga district in an Army vehicle bedecked with flowers. A large number of people gathered to pay their last respects to the soldier.

Kulwant’s family was inconsolable when his mortal remains reached the village. He is survived by his wife, one-and-a-half-year-old daughter and four-month-old son.

Faridkot MP Mohammad Sadique, Moga MLA Amandeep Kaur Arora and senior officials from the district administration, police and Army attended his last rites, which were performed with full military honours, including a gun salute.

In Ludhiana, a large number of people gathered in Chankoian village to pay a tribute to Mandeep Singh.

As his mortal remains reached his village, his wife, 11-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son saluted him one last time. His son lit his pyre.

In Bathinda, the mortal remains of Sewak Singh were consigned to the flames in his village. Sewak, who joined the Army in 2018, is survived by his father, a daily wager, and two sisters.

AAP MLA Baljinder Kaur, singer Sidhu Moosewala’s father Balkaur Singh and officials from the Army, district administration and police attended his last rites.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the village of Harkrishan Singh. He is survived by his wife and two-year-old daughter.

AAP MLA Amansher Singh Kalsi and Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal were among those who attended his last rites.

The Punjab government on Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore each and a job to the kin of the slain soldiers.