Army Major, 3 Soldiers Killed in Pakistan Firing Along LoC in Kashmir's Rajouri District

Jammu: Srinagar: A Major and three Army jawans were martyred on Saturday after Pakistani troops opened fire on a patrol unit in Keri sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.

The incident took place when chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was touring the border district to address people’s grievances.

Sources said the Army was trying to ascertain whether this was an ambush by border action team (BAT) or a “routine” ceasefire violation from across.

Yougal Manhas, senior superintendent of police, Rajouri, told reporters that the Major and two soldiers died on the spot while another soldier died later at a hospital. He said the armymen were killed during an infiltration attempt carried out by militants.

Major Moharkar Prafulla Ambadas, Lance Naik Gurmail Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Sepoy Pargat Singh were grievously injured during the ceasefire violation and succumbed to their wounds, the Army said in a statement.

Major Ambadas, 32, was from Bhandara in Maharashtra and is survived by his wife Avoli Moharkar. Lance Naik Gurmail Singh was from Amritsar, Punjab, while sepoy Pargat Singh, 30, hailed from Karnal, Haryana. The third jawan, Gurmeet Singh, belonged to Punjab.

An army spokeman said they were brave and sincere soldiers. The nation will always remain indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty, he said. He said the Indian Army has retaliated strongly and effectively on Pakistan Army posts.

This year both the LoC and International border have seen massive spike in ceasefire breaches.

Figures presented in the Lok Sabha recently showed that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir 771 times till December 10 this year, and 110 times along the International Border till November-end. Around 30 people including 14 army personnel, 12 civilians and four BSF personnel were killed in these ceasefire violations this year.

Last year there were 449 incidents of ceasefire violations in which 13 civilians and 13 security personnel were killed and 83 civilians and 99 security personnel were injured.