The 23-year-old Captain was among the three army personnel from elite Para unit who lost their lives yesterday in the ongoing encounter with militants in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir.
Advertisement
He said the joint operation of Army, CRPF and J&K Police ended this evening after over 48 Hours, which began on Saturday. The army described him as an “inspiring leader”, who in spite of being injured in an earlier anti-terrorist operation, went on to volunteer for more operations.
One of the Para regiment officers was Captain Pawan Kumar.
The militants had attacked a bus carrying police reservists near Srinagar, before breaking into the training institute.
As may as 15 other security personnel including an assistant commandant of the CRPF have been injured in the gunfight and are being treated in hospital.
Srinagar, Three CRPF troopers and a civilian were killed and at least 10 other people including civilians injured on Saturday in a gunfight between guerrillas and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
The security forces managed to corner the terrorists in the machine room of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building and rained bullets to eliminate the perpetrators. The number of militants, according to the eyewitness accounts, ranges from three to five.
As the operation entered the third day on Wednesday, the Special Forces of the army maximised the force, using mortar shells to flush out the militants.
“It is suspected that 5 to 6 militants were involved in the attack”, official sources said, adding: “It was not immediately known whether all of them (militants) are trapped in the EDI building or not”.
Three Indian army commandos, two policemen and a civilian died in the fighting.
On their arrival, doctors declared Captain, Tushar Mahajan from Udhampur, as brought dead while another para commando Lance Naik Om Prakash, a resident of Shimla in Hamachal Pradesh, succumbed to injuries later.
Advertisement
The protesters had defied curfew-like restrictions and were trying to carry out a march towards the site of the gunfight.
