In a gunfight with terrorists in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Sunday, a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Indian Army’s special forces was killed in action, and three other soldiers were wounded.
Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar has been recognised as a soldier.
All ranks and the General Officer Commanding the White Knight Corps salute Nb Sub Rakesh Kumar of 2 Para (SF) for his heroic sacrifice. Sub Rakesh participated in a joint counter-insurgency (CI) operation in the Bhart Ridge Kishtwar general region. In an X post, the Army stated, “We stand with the bereaved family in this hour of grief.”
Joint search parties from the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police stopped the terrorists a few kilometres from the location where the bullet-riddled bodies of village defence guards Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar were discovered earlier in the day, sparking the altercation.
Following the terrorists’ kidnapping and murder of the defence guards, a large search and rescue effort was initiated Thursday evening in the forests of Kuntwara and Keshwan.
In a post on X, the Army’s White Knight Corps, based in Jammu, stated: “Security forces in the general area of Bhart Ridge, Kishtwar, launched a joint operation based on specific intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists.” This same group kidnapped and killed two defence guards who were unarmed villagers. After contact was made, a gunfight broke out.
Village defence guards were shot and blindfolded
The two village defence guards were shot in the head from behind, officials stated in a postmortem report. The victims were discovered with their hands bound to their backs and blindfolded, the officials claimed.
On Thursday, the unarmed VDGs went to the wooded area to pasture their cattle, and the terrorists killed them with a pistol, officials said. This was Kumar’s first visit to the woodland region since his father’s death, Amar Chand, more than a week earlier. During the time of grieving, his buddy Ahmad looked after his animals.
