Searches continue in Kishtwar forests
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 11: Army today laid wreaths on the mortal remains and paid floral tribute to Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar who laid down his life in a gunfight with the terrorists at Gidhri Top in Thossar area of Kishtwar district. Three Army soldiers sustained injuries in the same gun battle and have been admitted to a Military Hospital.
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General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the White Knight Corps, Lieutenant General Navin Sachdeva, led the wreath-laying ceremony at the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Jammu, where the Naib Subedar’s mortal remains were brought from Kishtwar.
The bugle sounded at the last post and an Army contingent presented a salute to honour the fallen soldier.
“In a solemn wreath-laying ceremony, GOC White Knight Corps laid a wreath in Jammu to pay homage to the braveheart Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar, who made the supreme sacrifice while undertaking a counter-terrorist operation in Kishtwar,” the White Knight Corps posted on X.
The mortal remains of Naib Subedar Kumar have been airlifted by a chopper to his native place in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.
Naib Subedar Kumar was leading one of the Army teams at Gidhri Top in search of the terrorists involved in the killing of two Village Defence Guards (VDGs) when the gun fight broke out. Kumar was among four soldiers of Special Forces who were injured in the encounter. He later succumbed to the injuries and attained martyrdom.
Cremation of Naib Subedar, who belonged to 2 Para (Special Forces), will be performed at his native village in Mandi with full military honours.
Meanwhile, security forces continued their search operation in the dense forests of Keshwan and adjoining areas in Kishtwar district but there was no fresh contact with the terrorists since yesterday morning.
The security personnel have been scouring the forest area for over four days, looking for the terrorists who abducted and killed two Village Defence Guards last Thursday.
Officials said there has been no fresh contact with the terrorists since Sunday’s encounter and it appeared that they had managed to escape deep inside the forests or to another area during the night. However, massive search operations by Army, police, SOG and paramilitary forces continued in the forests to track down the terrorists who are stated to be four in numbers.
The officials added that thick foliage and challenging topography pose a challenge for the security personnel relentlessly chasing the trail to hunt down the terrorists.
On Thursday evening, terrorists abducted VDGs Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar and shot them dead in the nearby Kuntwara forest.
There has been strong resentment among the people against the killings and they are demanding immediate elimination of the terrorists.
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