Pulwama Attack: 5 days on, Indian forces gun down mastermind; PM Modi asks world to act on terror- all you need to know
Security forces on Monday gunned down the alleged mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack.
Five days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack, security forces on Monday gunned down the alleged mastermind of the carnage. Two other terrorists of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were also killed in the fierce encounter in which a Major and four other security personnel were also killed.
Eight other security personnel, including a Brigadier, a Lt Colonel, a Major, a Captain and a DIG of Jammu and Kashmir Police, were injured in the encounter, which took place in Pinglena village of Pulwama district, around 10 kms from the site of February 14 terror attack and went on throughout the night and most of the day on Monday.
The three terrorists killed in the operation included Kamran, a Pakistani terrorist who is suspected to be the mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack of February 14, sources in the security forces said.
Menwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday that time for talks was over and hesitation to take action against terrorism and those who support it is akin to encouraging the menace. Modi asked the world to unite to take concrete action against terrorism and those who support it.
India also presented its case as ICJ began a four-day public hearing in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage.
The three terrorists killed in the operation included Kamran, a Pakistani terrorist who is suspected to be the mastermind of the Pulwama terror attack of February 14, sources in the security forces said.
Kamran, a close aide of JeM chief Masood Azhar, was sent to Kashmir to boost militancy and took over as JeM's 'operational commander' after the security forces killed Mufti Waqas in an encounter in February last year, sources said.
"Kamran, the sidekick of Masood Azhar, was in regular touch with Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, his Pakistani mentors," Army sources said. "He did what Pakistani ISI and his mentors wanted him do and was in regular touch with them."
He was the main logistics coordinator for the suicide bombing at Lethapura in Pulwama on February 14 and recent serial grenade lobbing incidents in South Kashmir.
The encounter started late Sunday night when the troops of 55 Rashtriya Rifles laid a cordon in the village along with CRPF and Kashmir police teams. The Army suffered a big loss in the initial engagement itself as one Major Vibhuti Dhaundiyal and three soldiers lost their lives.
A Head Constable of state police Abdul Rashid was also killed, the police said.
However, the engagement continued as the Jaish terrorists were trapped inside a cluster of buildings. As the encounter progressed, two more officers including one Lieutenant Colonel Rahul Gupta and Captain Vinayak also suffered injuries and were shifted to hospital for medical care.
Later on, when troops felt that the encounter was over and senior officers including 12 Sector Rashtriya rifles commander Brig Harbir Singh and South Kashmir Police DIG Amit Kumar reached the venue for reviewing the operations, the third terrorist opened fire and caused injuries to the senior officers also.
The Pulwama terror attack has shown that time for talks is over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday and said hesitation to take action against terrorism and those who support it is akin to encouraging the menace.
Without naming Pakistan, Modi, after holding delegation-level talks with Argentine President Mauricio Macri here, said the world should unite to take concrete action against terrorism and those who support it.
"Hesitating to act against terrorists and their anti-humanitarian supporters is also equivalent to promoting terrorism," Modi said in a press statement in the presence of Marci.
Indian diplomats snubbed the Pakistani officials at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday where the two countries were attending the proceedings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. MEA joint secretary Deepak Mittal and India’s envoy to Netherlands Venu Rajamonyon both refused to shake hands with Pakistani officials. Mittal ignored the hand offered by Pakistan's AG Anwar Mansoor Khan and replied with a customary 'Namaste' before presenting oral arguments.
India on Monday said the trial of its national Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court "hopelessly failed" to satisfy even the minimum standards of due process and requested the International Court of Justice to declare it "unlawful".
India's plea came as the top UN court began a four-day public hearing in the case of Jadhav, 48, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage. Ex-solicitor general Harish Salve, who was representing India, said, "Pakistan's story is solely based on rhetoric and not facts."