Exclusive: On Republic Day eve, villagers in Jammu answered call of duty, helped over 20 stranded Armymen

Villagers carved a narrow passage through the snow to reach the soldiers.

Searches were intensified after an Army Havildar, Gajendra Singh of the Special Forces, was killed and seven soldiers injured in an encounter with terrorists in the Singhpora area of Chhatru on January 18. The deployment at Morcha Top was aimed at preventing terrorists from slipping into Doda district, sources said.

After the soldiers sent a message to their base camp, officials from the Army post at Gundna approached villagers on the evening of January 24 for assistance.

“We started the rescue operation around 8.30 am on January 25. The Army gave us shoes, gloves and food packets. We carried our own shovels and began making our way through the snow towards Morcha Top,” said one of the villagers involved in the operation. “We reached the soldiers by 1.30 pm and brought them down to safety by evening.”

When contacted, Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt Colonel Suneel Baratwal said that the civilians had joined the Army to make a passage through the snow on mountain terrain.

The same day, the Border Roads Organisation carried out another rescue operation at Chatergala Top on the Bhderwah-Chamba inter state road in Doda district at an altitude of 11,500 feet. In the operation, which concluded in the early hours of January 26, the BRO rescued 40 Army personnel and around 20 civilians.

Heavy snowfall has disrupted normal life across Doda and Kishtwar districts. Sources said an avalanche also hit the remote Warwan Valley in Kishtwar, sweeping through grazing areas, a key concern for locals who depend on livestock for their livelihood.