20-25 terrorists active in the Rajouri-Poonch region: Lt-Gen Dwivedi
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Northern Command Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi Friday stated that Pakistan and its terrorist eco-system has suffered a major setback with the elimination of one of the top commanders in the Bajimaal area of Dharmsal in Rajouri.
Lt-Gen Dwivedi also maintained that 20-25 terrorists would be actively operating in the region. We need one year‘s time to control the situation.
Lt-Gen Upendra Dwivedi was interacting with the media persons here at the Military hospital in Satwari after paying homage to the brave hearts before dispatching their mortal remains to their native places.
Lt-Gen Dwivedi also asserted Pakistan is desperate to derail the political process ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Paying homage to the fallen soldiers including two Army captains, the Northern Army commander said, “We have lost our Army personnel but we have eliminated the terrorists. Our brave soldiers did the work of eliminating the trained foreign terrorists without thinking about their own lives. This is a major setback to the terrorists’ eco-system and Pakistan. 20-25 terrorists could be operating in the area. We should be able to control the situation in one year’s time.”
On being asked if some of the terrorists could be soldiers of the Pakistan Army‘s Special Forces, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi said, “Some of the terrorists have been found to be retired soldiers…Pakistan wants to bring foreign terrorists here as there are no local recruits here. We are trying to eliminate the foreign terrorists.”
Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi said one of the terrorists killed in the operation has been identified as Quari (code name). The locals shared information about their movement in the area. With the elimination of the top Lashkar commander the morale of the troops is also very high and local residents too are feeling safe after they were eliminated. Previously they were living in fear as the region had witnessed civilian killings.
According to intelligence reports and assessments made by various other agencies, we believe Quari was the mastermind of civilian killings in the Dangri and Kandi areas of Rajouri.
According to the police, Quari and his group have been active in Rajouri-Poonch since last year. The slain terrorist was sent to revive terrorism in the Pir Panjal region.
According to defence sources, Qari was an expert in handling IEDs and was operating from the natural caves. He was also a trained Sniper.
In a solemn wreath laying ceremony, General Officer Commanding #WhiteKnightCorps paid homage at #Jammu to Capt #Pranjal MV, Capt #Shubham Gupta, Hav #Abdul Majid, Ptr #Sanjay Bisht and Ptr #Sachin Laur who laid down their lives in the service of the nation.
All ranks of the… pic.twitter.com/rm3DPSSv0q— White Knight Corps (@Whiteknight_IA) November 24, 2023
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, Army officers, and police on Friday paid floral tributes to soldiers before their mortal remains were airlifted to their native places.
I bow to our army bravehearts, Capt MV Pranjal, Capt Shubham Gupta, Hav Abdul Majid, LNk Sanjay Bisht, Ptr Sachin Laur martyred while protecting motherland during an anti-terror ops in Rajouri. Their valour & sacrifice will never be forgotten. Condolences to their families. pic.twitter.com/2Ng7RUOorZ
— Office of LG J&K (@OfficeOfLGJandK) November 24, 2023
The mortal remains of the five army personnel were brought to the Army General Hospital in Jammu from Rajouri where a wreath-laying ceremony was organized. Sinha, Lt Gen Dwivedi, Chief Secretary Dr. A K Mehta, DGP R R Swain, Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, and IGP Anand Jain were among a large number of officials of armed forces, civilians, and police who paid tributes to the martyred army men with full military honours.
The martyred soldiers have been identified as Captain M V Pranjal (63 RR) of the Mangalore area of Karnataka, Captain Shubham Gupta (9 Para) of Agra of Uttar Pradesh, Havaldar Abdul Majid (Para) of Ajote in Poonch, J-K; Lance Naik Sanjay Bist of Halli Padli area of Nainital, UK and Paratrooper Sachin Laur of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.
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My pranams to those brave hearts who lost their life. Wish they played safe, for death was anyway awaiting for the terrorists & they had no escape, there was no need to hurry or risk their life.
My head bows to these brave hearts. If there is anything that I can do to their families will do so wholeheartedly.