Eight locals were picked up by security forces Friday for questioning in connection with the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district in which four soldiers were killed and three others injured. Sources said that the security forces suspected these villagers might have information about militants who ambushed the army vehicles as they live in the vicinity where the attack took place. Meanwhile, a team of National Investigation Agency (NIA) also reached the spot. The General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Nagrota based White Knight Corps, Lt General Sandeep Jain, J&K DGP, R R Swain and IGP Anand Jain also visited the spot to take stock of the ground situation. Security forces Friday launched a massive cordon and search operation to flush out the militants behind Thursday’s attack. The Thanamandi-Buffliaz road connecting Rajouri district with Poonch has been closed for civilian vehicles and people are advised to take the Bhimber Gali route for travel between Rajouri and Poonch. The militants believed to be three to four in numbers had on Thursday taken position on hill tops along the road and ambushed two Army vehicles when they slowed down at a blind turn. Four soldiers were killed on the spot, sources said, adding that the militants appear to have used steel core bullets which can pierce even the bullet proof vests. Security and defence experts have called for immediate strengthening of the security management and intelligence network. “Indian Army and White knight Corps salutes the bravery and supreme sacrifice of four soldiers in Surankote yesterday while fighting the scourge of terrorism,” White Knight Corps, or XVI corps, wrote on X. Lt Gen Paramjit Singh (retd), who headed the Nagrota-based XVI corps of the army, acknowledged that the terrain where the incident took place is a difficult one. “But having said that, one needs to be prepared for all eventualities,” he said. He said it was time for the top brass in the corps to go back to the drawing board and analyse the continuous “reverses” being witnessed in the area. “This area also has an unholy nexus between smugglers, drug cartels and people in the system. There is an urgent need to break the backbone of this,” said Lt Gen Singh, who was one of the army officials involved in the Balakote strike in 2019. Gen Singh also said it was time for those at the helm of affairs to go back to the drawing board and basic training of jungle warfare. “We should not be more dependent on technical inputs as they are misleading at times,” he said. Security expert Captain (retd) Anil Gaur said, “There is some fault in how we are dealing with terrorism. It is time to strengthen the intelligence and security setup.” -With PTI inputs
