Captain Karamjit Singh Bakshi of Ranchi, Jharkhand, and Naik Mukesh Singh Manhas of Uttervehini in Samba district of Jammu region, were killed while they were on fence patrol duty when an improvised explosive device (IED), suspected to have been planted by Pakistani terrorists, went off along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Bhattal area of the Akhnoor sector at 3.50pm on Tuesday. This was the third incident of cross-border action by terrorists in Jammu region in four days.
Captain Bakshi was to get married to a doctor from the Army Medical Corps on April 18. Family sources said the lady doctor belongs to Sainik Colony in Jammu.
Naik Manhas, 29, was also set to tie the knot with a woman from Sathraian village of RS Pura in Jammu district.
His father, Shakatar Singh Manhas, a retired police sub inspector, said, “On Tuesday, we had organised a Mata Ka Jagran (prayer ceremony) but couldn’t talk to our son.”
He said that Mukesh was home for a fortnight in January for the engagement. “He resumed duty on January 28 after the 15-day leave during which he got engaged. He was constructing a house and would call us over the phone enquiring about the progress,” the distraught father said.
Father calls for strong action
The father called for strong action against the terrorists and those orchestrating such attacks. “IED blasts are happening frequently and vehicles of security personnel are being targeted by terrorists. It is high time we take strong action,” he said.
Mukhtar Singh, a former sarpanch of Kamila village in Uttervehini, said, “Youngsters of the village looked up to Mukesh. He encouraged them to channel their energy positively by taking up sports. He even gave them volleyball and cricket kits.”
The young soldier had also made a cricket pitch along the local Devak river for the youngsters, he said.
“The news of his death has come as a blot from the blue. I urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji to take strong and decisive action against Pakistani terrorists. For how long can be continue to lose our children like this?” he said.
Mukesh had joined the army in 2014. His younger brother is also a soldier. “Almost every home in our village has sent its son to the armed forces. It has become a tradition here,” Mukhtar Singh said.
Wreath-laying ceremony held
The wreath-laying ceremony to pay tributes to the two soldiers took place at the technical airport at Satwari (Jammu cantonment) on Wednesday afternoon before the mortal remains were sent to their native places, where the last rites would be conducted with full military honours.
Following a spurt in terror activities on the border that include the 744-km LoC and 200-km India-Pakistan border, the Jammu and Kashmir Police have sounded a high alert.
The army and the Border Security Force (BSF) have also upped their ante intensifying surveillance along the LoC and IB, respectively.
According to intelligence agencies, Pakistan has moved nearly 100 terrorists in various launch pads close to the LoC to push them for staging attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
The army has launched massive searches along the LoC in Akhnoor sector.
Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha has called a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar. The meeting is being attended by top officials from the army, CRPF, BSF, police and intelligence agencies.
