PULWAMA AND AFTER

Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM (Retd)

A targeted operation was launched a little after midnight on a tip-off that three Jaish terrorists, including the handler of the Pulwama suicide bomber, were hiding in the Pinglan area. Personnel of the 55 Rashtriya Rifles, the CRPF and the Special Operation Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police were involved in the encounter.

The encounter took place about 12 km away from Lethpora where a JeM suicide bomber, identified as Adil Ahmed Dar, drove his explosives laden vehicle into a CRPF bus, killing 40 personnel and injuring many others on Thursday. The encounter began after the security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area during the night after receiving inputs about the presence of militants. The search operation triggered a gun battle early on Monday morning, which continued intermittently till Monday evening..

Three militants affiliated to the extremist group were killed in a 17-hour gunfight with security forces. Two terrorists have been identified as Pakistanis. All the three killed terrorists were affiliated with JeM and were wanted in a series of terror crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities. One of the Pakistani terrorists identified as Kamran had taken over as operational commander of JeM after Mufti Waqas who was killed in an encounter in February last year. Kamran was a key aide of Jaish chief Masood Azhar. Kamran, the mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack and top commander of Jaish, remained active in Pulwama and Awantipora since 2017 and had a history of terror crime records. He was responsible for the recruitment of people to the terror fold and several terror crime cases were registered against him. "Kamran's role in the February 14 suicide bombing of a CRPF convoy was under the scanner of investigators," a senior police official said.

The second one was an IED specialist, Gazi Rashid, an Afghan national. The third terrorist identified as Hilal Ahmad, was a resident of Pinglena Pulwama.

The top leadership of the outfit in the Kashmir Valley had been eliminated within 100 hours of the attack.

However, the Army has paid a heavy price for this success. The soldiers killed in the operation belonged to the 55 Rashtriya Rifles ( The Grenadiers). Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, 34, was from Dehradun. The others killed are Sepoy Hari Singh, 27, Havaldar Sheo Ram, 37, and Sepoy Ajay Kumar, 27. A head constable of the police, Abdul Rashid, was also killed. One civilian got killed in the cross fire.

Brigadier Harbir Singh, the brigade/ sector commander, Shri Amit Kumar, the Deputy Inspector General of south Kashmir, and others were hit with bullet injuries. Today I got the following details from a Face Book post which I think should be correct. The casualties are :

• Brig Harbir Singh, Gun Shot Wound , Left Leg. In OT. Stable. 
• Lt Col Rahul Gupta multiple splinters in Left thigh, Right leg and Right thigh. Stable. 
• Capt Saurabh, Gun Shot Wound, B/L thighs with fracture of B/L femurs. Critical. 
• Maj Vinayak Vijay Gun Shot Wound , Right chest wall. Stable.
• Four other ranks all Gun Shot Wound and Splinter injuries, One is critical. 
• Shri Amit Kumar, gunshot wound in the abdomen. Stable.

Lt Gen K J S Dhillon , a tall, tough and earthy soldier from Rajputana Rifles who has commanded his company, battalion and brigade in J&K and had been BGS(Ops) at HQ 15 Corps has just taken over as General Officer Commanding of Army's 15 Corps. He told reporters in Srinagar "Brigadier Harbir Singh, who is among the injured, was on leave at home. When he realised at midnight that the operation has started, he cut short his leave voluntarily and rejoined. He (Brigadier Singh) came back to Kashmir and went straight to the operational site. He was leading his men from the front. DIG Amit Kumar (who was also injured) again was leading his men from the front and you would see from the injuries to our officers, it shows our commanders were leading the operation from the front and we were able to achieve nil civilian casualties," Lt Gen Dhillon said.

He said the Army officers will continue to lead from the front during operations in future as well.

Asked about the high number of casualties in the operation, Lt Gen Dhillon said the security forces wanted to avoid any civilian casualties. He SAID, "There were two to three main reasons for it. We did not want civilian casualties. As you are aware, other than one civilian casualty, which happened due to terrorist fire in the initial stages itself, not a single civilian has been injured in this operation that lasted 17 hours. That is the risk we took, We took it on our chin,"

By all accounts this is a very heavy price we paid. We pray to God almighty for speedy recovery of these brave soldiers.

I have retired from Indian Army four years back. I have no idea how things went in this encounter. All I can imagine is the immense zeal on the part of the unit to get hold of the terrorists who were responsible for the dastardly act and. the injured pride as to how can this happen in their area of operation.

Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism operations are always frought with danger. The advantage is always with the terrorists. They can pick and chose the target, time and place to attack. The guards cannot be at the highest 365 days, 24X7. It is humanly impossible. Terrorists need one opening. 

I am immensely proud of our army which is officer led. There are only about 10 officers posted in an infantry battalion of 700 odd people. But look at our officers casualty. Over the years there has been many casualties of Col and above ranks. Compare this with , say, US Army. As of July 27, 2018, there have been 2,372 U.S. military deaths in the War in Afghanistan. How many deaths in Col and above? NIL. That is the difference.

This is happening all through. In 1993, there was an encounter at old Baramulla. Those days it required permission to open fire with higher caliber weapon like MMG or Rocket Launcher. Handing taking over of Col General Staff was going on. Both the Col GS and the GOC of Dagger division Maj Gen Inder Verma went to the area where operations were going on. It was a congested place. Suddenly one of the windows opened and a burst of fire came. The Col GS was killed on the spot. The GOC was injured. We had great difficulty in extricating the GOC. No night flying of helicopters was possible those days. Evacuation to Srinagar had to be by road. Those familiar with Gun shot wounds would know when a main artery gets ruptured what happens, blood transfusion can only happen in Srinagar Base Hospital. Maj Gen Rostum Nanavatty took over the Dagger Division thereafter.

In 1995 there was an IED blast to a convoy of an artillery regiment which was going ahead of Uri. It was around 10 o clock in the morning. Hearing the news Brig Sridhar, an extremely smart Guradsman who had been Adjutant at Indian Military Academy commandeered his Quick Reaction Team and immediately started to go the site of the incidence with his education officer who was also officiating as his Intelligence officer. Then the second blast took place. Brig Sridharan died on the spot.

There are such instances galore. On hind sight one can always say there is some Standard Operating Procedures, we should be more careful, losing of men is not worth it etc. It is all true. But please think of those brave men in uniform. They are the most battle hardened soldiers on the planet. They know what is to be done, they are well honed mean fighting machines. Anybody who has faced bullets fired in anger would know what it takes when shits fly. Still they are willing to put their life on the line of duty.

I salute the brave men and women of Indian Army. India need not worry as long as they are there.

I am immensely proud to have served in this great organization, the INDIAN ARMY. with these wonderful men and women who ask for nothing and give everything including their lives for the motherland. No amount of praise is enough.

JAY HIND.