Dressed as police personnel, terrorists carried out a massive assault at an Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Nagrota on Tuesday.
Under the cover of darkness, a group of heavily-armed terrorists in police uniform stormed an army unit in Nagrota, about three kms from the Corps headquarters on the outskirts of Jammu city, triggering an intense gunbattle that lasted for several hours.
Seven Army personnel, including two officers, were killed in the attack before three terrorists were eliminated in an armed face-off which also involved a hostage-like situation with 12 soldiers, two women and as many children being held captive. All were later rescued.
The attack that caused us the loss of our seven bravehearts could have been worse if not for the wives of the two Army officers who took control in their hands and averted the damage.
Soon after the heavily armed terrorists disguised in police uniform entered an army unit, they tried to enter the family quarters where they could take the families of the soldiers and officers hostage.
However, due to the bravery of two women, who were staying in the family quarters along with their newborns, the plans of the terrorists could not materialise.
"The wives of the two army officers, who were on night duty when the encounter broke out, displayed exemplary courage as they blocked the entry of their quarters with all the household items, making it difficult for the terrorists to break into the houses," said an army officer privy to the encounter.
Had the women not shown this alertness, the terrorists would have been able to take them hostage and would have succeeded in causing massive damage to the army and the families, he said.
The two babies rescued are 18 months and two months old, the officer said.
Unfortunately, one jawan and two officers who were trying to dodge the terrorists were killed.
It came as a rude to the family members as one of the martyrs is survived by his two young children.
Later in the day, the Indian Army released the list of the seven martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the rescue attempt.
List of martyrs:
1. Major Gosavi Kunal Mannadir, 33, hailed from Village Pandharpur, Distt Solapur, Maharashtra. The braveheart is survived by his wife, Smt Uma K Gosavi.
2. Major Akshay Girish Kumar, 31, was from Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka. He is survived by his wife Smt Sangeeta Ravinderan.
3. Havildar Sukhraj Singh, 32, was a resident of Village Maan Nagar, PO Batala, District Gurdaspur, Punjab. The martyr is survived by his wife Smt Harmeet Kaur.
4. Lance Naik Kadam Sambhaji Yeshwantro, aged 32 years, is survived by his wife, Smt Sheetal. He hailed from Village Janapuri, Post Office Wadepuri, Tehsil Loha, District Nanded, Maharashtra.
5. Grenadier Raghvendra Singh, 28, is survived by his wife, Smt Anjana Sikaewal. He hailed from Village Gadijatar, Tehsil Raja Khera, District Dholpur, Rajasthan.
6. Rifleman Asim Rai, aged 32 years, hailed from village Ratanchha, PO Khotang, Nepal. The braveheart is survived by his wife, Smt Madhu Kala Rai.
7. Naik Chittranjan Debbarma, aged 37 years, who hailed from village Garingpara, Bada Maidan Bazaar, Tehsil Ramchandraghat, Kalampur, West Tripura district, Tripura, is survived by his wife Namita Debbarma and two young children aged 11 years and 7 years.
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