He killed 4 heavily-armed terrorists before being martyred

Having been posted at the high range since late last year, it was the team of Havildar, who is known as just Dada, which spotted the movement of terrorists in the area on Thursday and lost no time in engaging them in an encounter that went on till Friday too.

Enrolled in the Assam Regiment of the Army in 1997, Dada was posted with the 35 Rashtriya Rifles, a force carved out for counter-insurgency operations, at present.

A senior Army official said on Friday that he was injured badly in the encounter as the terrorists who crossed over from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK) were having a slight height advantage.

He displayed raw courage, unflinching grit, presence of mind and with utter disregard to his personal safety and despite bleeding profusely, discharged his duties and made supreme sacrifice for the nation, the official said. 

He charged at the spot where terrorists were holed up to ensure that two terrorists were killed on the spot and the third one after a scuffle on Friday as they slid down the hill towards the Line of Control. One terrorist was shot dead by him on Thursday itself.

The official said that the presence of mind of Dada, a native of village Boduria in far flung Arunachal Pradesh, saved lives of his team members who were coming under heavy fire from the terrorists. His body was being taken to his native village where the last rites will be conducted with military honours.

The Havaldar is survived by his wife Chasen Lowang, daughter Roukhin who will turn 10 on June 30 and six-year-old son Senwang.

In a separate incident, two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district on Friday, police said.

The gun battle erupted after a joint team of police, army and CRPF launched cordon and search operation in the wee hours in Khonchipora village, about 35 kms from here, following information about presence of militants in the area, a police spokesman said.

“The hiding militants were asked to surrender which they refused and instead fired upon the joint search party, resulting in an encounter,” the spokesman said.

The slain militants have been identified as Mehraj Ahmad Bhat and Aadil Ahmad, residents of Pattan and Sopore towns of the district, respectively. They were associated with Hizbul Mujhaideen, he 

said, adding two AK assault rifles were recovered from the scene of the gun battle.