September 20, 2014
Lt Gen Subrata Saha, General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps slams rumours of favouritism in rescue and relief operations in flood-affected areas of J&K
September 20, 2014
Lt Gen Subrata Saha, General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps slams rumours of favouritism in rescue and relief operations in flood-affected areas of J&K
Srinagar: Approximately 200 heavily armed militants are believed to be waiting along the Line of Control, for an opportune moment to infiltrate into Indian territory; security forces have, so far, foiled numerous attempts to sneak into the Kashmir Valley.
The infiltration attempts come against the backdrop of catastrophic floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
"There are around 200 heavily armed terrorists across the Line of Control waiting to infiltrate into the Kashmir Valley," Lt Gen Subrata Saha, General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, told PTI. He explained the infiltrators hoped to take advantage of the chaos caused by the recent floods.
The Lt Gen also stressed that despite the drain on the armed forces’ resources – diverted to rescue and relief efforts in the state – the Army did not waver in its defence of the border. "Even though we too suffered damage in the recent floods as more than 50 per cent of the cantonment area was inundated we never allowed the security grid to weaken," he said.
Saha said it 'robust' counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency grids were key in the death of dreaded foreign militant Umar Bhat, who was killed in the Rajwar forest area of Kupwara district. He also said five infiltrators were killed in infiltration attempts over the past 10 days. "Three infiltrators were killed in the Keran Sector and two were killed in the Machil sector in the last ten days," he explained.
Jammu and Kashmir has been hit by terrible floods, which wreaked havoc and left close to 300 people dead.
Army fights favoritism charges
Meanwhile, Saha also hit out against allegations by ‘anti-social elements’ that the Army prioritised the rescue of VVIPs and non-locals, calling them ‘baseless’. "There was no way we could have distinguished an outsider or a local. Our priority was to save maximum number of human lives. We had to first save the people who were caught in the farthest points. We adopted a logical sequence of evacuation and first helped the people who were at a greater risk," he stressed.
The Lt Gen also said people involved in attacking soldiers and aircraft deployed in rescue and relief ops came from unaffected areas to spark trouble. "The people who were marooned in the floods wanted to be saved and we saved them. The people who pelted stones on the army personnel deployed in the rescue operations were the ones who had come to create mischief from the area that were the least affected with the floods," he said.
He also stressed that ammunition depots remained unaffected by the floods, even if ‘some relocation’ was forced. "Some of our units suffered some damage in the floods, but the arms and ammunitions are safe," he said.
Courtesy: PTI
