*Jaitley reviews situation, briefs PM
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, May 2: Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen AK Bhatt today rang up his Pakistani counterpart Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and conveyed India’s “serious concern” over dastardly attack by Pakistan army in killing two soldiers of Army and BSF and mutilating their bodies on the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district yesterday while Additional Director General (ADG), Western Command Kamal N Choubey said terrorists had mixed with Pakistani troops, who carried out the attack.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley reviewed the situation arising out of Pakistan’s nefarious designs on the frontiers and later briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the attack and steps being taken by the Army to teach Pakistan a lesson for its “unsoldierly act”.
Sources told the Excelsior that DGMO Lt Gen AK Bhatt called up his Pakistani counterpart Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza on hotline this afternoon and voiced Army’s “deep concern” over Pakistan’s act of sneaking inside the Indian territory, killing two soldiers and mutilating their bodies.
Sources said the DGMO warned Pakistan that Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate and that Pakistani troops should be ready to face consequences for their inhumane practices along the LoC.
“Pakistan, as usual, was in denial mode and wanted India to give actionable evidence,” they said, adding that Pakistan DGMO was given entire sequence of the incident and then issued a stern warning that every such attack would be forcefully retaliated by the troops.
The DGMO told his Pakistani counterpart that mutilating bodies of two soldiers was a “dastardly and inhuman act” which called for a response and unequivocal condemnation.
“The DGMO of the Indian Army conveyed that such a dastardly and inhuman act is beyond any norms of civility and merits unequivocal condemnation and response,” sources said.
The DGMO also conveyed to his Pakistani counterpart that “full fire” support was provided by the Pakistani army post located in the vicinity of the incident site.
Sources said the DGMO also conveyed India’s concerns about the presence of Border Action Team (BAT) training camps in close vicinity of the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The Indian Army has already vowed an “appropriate” response to the “despicable act”. The soldiers killed were Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh of 22 Sikh Infantry and Head Constable Prem Sagar of 200th Battalion of BSF.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after paying tributes to martyr BSF jawan Prem Sagar at BSF Headquarters, Paloura, Additional DG BSF, Western Command, Kamal N Choubey said the terrorists had mixed up with Pakistani troops, who attacked the forward Indian posts on the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district yesterday.
“Pakistan attack was well-planned. Their army, which also had terrorists, was first to attack our posts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Army and the BSF will be revising their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the Line of Control (LoC) to avert such losses.
The Indian security establishment sees a link between the attack, in which two soldiers were beheaded, and the visit by Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa to the LoC a day before.
“..I would not like to comment formally on this. But yes, there is no doubt about it,” Choubey said when asked whether there was a link between yesterday’s incident and the Pakistan army chief’s visit to the area on Sunday.
“Everybody knows it well that this incident (yesterday) took place immediately after the visit of the Pakistan army chief,” Choubey said.
Asked whether the SOPs were followed by the troops during the patrolling, the BSF officer said, “SOPs are there and they have followed them. The question is basically the element of surprise. Every such incident which takes place we learn from it”.
The ADG said the Army and the BSF will be brainstorming together and come up with a revised SOP.
“The BSF works under the operational command of the army at the LoC. I assure you, together (the army and the BSF) there will be brainstorming and we will come out with yet more revised SoP so that such incidents can be minimized,” ADG said.
The top officer said it was a “very very well coordinated and planned action” by the Pakistani army.
“The firing coming from two Pakistani FDLs (Forward Defence Locations), and simultaneously firing coming from two ambushes and a BAT action in between, is a very well coordinated action,” Choubey said.
Giving details of the attack, he said, “A joint team of the Army and the BSF is deployed in Krishna Ghati sector for boundary protection.
“When the team was going for regular line maintenance, two FDL (forward defence locations) from Pakistan’s side and two ambush, which they had set up, started firing simultaneously. They engaged our jawans in this.”
In between this, he said, “the (Pakistani) BAT (Border Action Team), which consists of regular army and trained militants, took advantage and mutilated bodies of our two soldiers while the rest were engaged.”
He said the patrolling party, which was attacked, consisted of 9 men, out of which 6 belonged to the BSF and three to the army.
Asked whether the Indian patrol party had gone out to defuse land mines, he said, “that is a routine affair on the daily basis as a morning drill.”
About alertness of the troops along the LoC, he said it depends on the terrain and two many other things, as to how action takes place and the timing.
“At that time, when there is a burst fire coming from four sides, the first reaction is really to save one self. Because you already have two colleagues getting martyred, the response depends on the situation. The response is proportionate to that situation in such case,” he said. The BSF officer said that troops along the International Border (IB) are very very alert.
“The launching pads (for terrorists intending to infiltrate) are always active and across the IB, they are always active. But we also are very very alert,” he said.
The IB is under direct control of the BSF and “so far there has not been a single incident of a successful infiltration,” he said.
In New Delhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who holds additional charge of the Defence Ministry after the exit of Manohar Parrikar, reviewed the situation arising out of the mutilation of two soldiers and later briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the incident and preparedness of the troops to give forceful retaliation to Pakistani troops.
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