Srinagar: Pakistan Army’s Border Action Team mutilated the corpses of two Indian jawans after they were killed in an attack on forward posts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch sector, the Army said.
A jawan was injured in the attack during which the Pakistani troops used automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades to target Kripan post and an adjacent post of the Border Security Force in Kerni area of Poonch’s Krishna Ghati sector, the officials said.
The Army said Pakistan’s BAT mutilated the bodies of Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh and BSF head constable Prem Sagar after killing them following an “unprovoked” firing in the latest violation of the November 2003 ceasefire agreement. It posted a statement regarding the incident, warning of appropriate response to the “despicable act.”
The Army’s Udhampur-based Northern Command in a statement said that the soldiers were killed in the Pakistani firing and their bodies were mutilated in a simultaneously launched attack by the BAT of the neighbouring country.
The statement said, “Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked rocket and forward mortar firing on two forward posts on the Line of Control in Krishna Ghati sector. Simultaneously, BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts.”
The statement added, “In an unsoldierly act by the Pakistan Army, the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated.”
Will react appropriately to the act: Jaitley
Army Officials in Jammu said that the Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked shelling at the Indian posts being manned by Army’s 22 Sikh Regiment and the BSF’s 200th Battalion in Kerni area of Poonch’s Krishna Ghati sector at 8.30 am.
Earlier reports had said that the two critically injured were removed to a nearest medical facility but were declared brought dead on arrival. The Army added that the soldiers who were killed and injured were part of a team on patrol between two forward posts in Poonch’s Krishna Ghati sector. This sector often witnessed skirmishes between the facing troops and each time the rivals blame each other for starting firing.
In Delhi, the government and various political parties condemned the mutilating of the Indian soldiers with BJP MP R.K. Singh who is a former Union home secretary asking for a tit-for-tat response. He said. “Pakistan understands only one language and, therefore, we need to kill more Pakistani soldiers and give them the same treatment.” Defence minister Arun Jaitley while denouncing the “barbaric act” said that such attacks do not take place even during war and that the whole country has full faith in the armed forces.
He said, “Bodies of soldiers being mutilated is an extreme form of barbaric act. The Government of India strongly condemns this act. The whole country has full faith in our armed forces which will react appropriately to the act.”
He added that sacrifice of the soldiers will not go in vain and reiterated, “This is a reprehensible and an inhuman act. Such attacks do not take place (even) during war.”
In Islamabad, the Pakistan Army rubbished the allegation of mutilating Indian soldiers’ bodies and said it would never disrespect a soldier’s body.
“Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the Line of Control or a BAT [Border Action Team] action in the Buttal sector (as Krishna Ghatti sector is known across the LoC) as alleged by India,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
It added, “Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers’ bodies is also false”. According to the statement, the Pakistan Army “is a highly professional force and shall never disrespect a soldier even Indian”.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman M. Nafees Zakaria tweeted “Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on LoC as alleged by India. Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers is also false.”
In November 2016 also, the Pakistani Army was accused of mutilating the body of one of the three soldiers after they were killed in Macheal sector along the LoC in Kupwara district and had vowed “heavy retribution” for the “cowardly act”.
