Top Commander Tells Pak: 10 Points

NEW DELHI: A day after two soldiers were killed and mutilated by Pakistan at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s top military commander told his Pakistani counterpart “such a dastardly and inhuman act is beyond any norms of civility and merits unequivocal condemnation and response”. The army has vowed revenge for the barbaric killing of Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh and Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Prem Sagar yesterday. The BSF said the Pakistani Border Action Team or BAT that ambushed the soldiers had both soldiers and terrorists.

In the hotline conversation between the Director Generals of Military Operations of both sides, India also conveyed its concern about the presence of Pakistani BAT training camps “in close vicinity” of the Line of Control (LoC).

The BSF said Pakistan’s attack was a “well-planned operation”, with the Pakistani army attacking four Indian posts first.

The soldiers who were killed were on patrol when the Pakistani army violated ceasefire and started firing from all sides. When they ran for cover, two were left behind. They were killed and beheaded by a BAT team that came 200 metres across the LoC, said a top official.

“The BAT had regular army and Mujahideen,” KK Chawbey, Additional Director General of BSF’s Western Command told.

He also commented that the incident took place just after the Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the LoC, the de facto border that separates the two countries.

“Everyone knows that the incident has taken place immediately after the visit of the Pak army chief,” said the BSF officer.

India retaliated by firing mortar bombs and grenades across the border, targeting army posts in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s army put out a denial and said in a statement, “Pakistan Army is a highly professional force and shall never disrespect a soldier, even Indian.”

Minister of State at the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitender Singh, described Pakistan as a “rogue state” in an interview.
A massive crowd gathered at a village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran for the funeral of soldier Paramjit Singh, whose body was brought by helicopter.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria constable Prem Sagar’s daughter demanded that her father’s killing be avenged. “My father is a martyr. For his head, we want 50 heads from there,” the teen said, her voice trembling.