Jammu, Feb 12: General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Nagrota headquartered White Knight Corps, Lt General, Navin Sachdeva on Wednesday led the wreath-laying ceremony of two soldiers, who were killed in an IED blast near the Line of Control (LoC) in Akhnoor sector.
The solemn wreath-laying ceremony to pay homage to Captain Karamjit Singh Bakshi from Jharkhand’s Ranchi and Naik Mukesh Singh Manhas from Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba was held at the Indian Air Force (IAF) station before the mortal remains of the deceased were dispatched to their hometowns for the last rites.
Lt Gen. Sachdeva and other ranks laid wreaths at the Tricolour-wrapped coffins of the deceased. The solemn ceremony was also attended by senior IAF, police and civil officers, including Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Anand Jain and Inspector General of Police, Jammu zone, Bhim Sen Tuti also attended the ceremony.
A powerful improvised explosive device (IED), believed to have been planted by terrorists, exploded near a forward post in Akhnoor’s Bhattal area on Tuesday, killing two Army personnel and injuring another.
Army troops conducted a massive search operation following the blast but there was no trace of the terrorists, who are believed to have fled across the border after setting off the IED.
The bodies of the bravehearts were flown to their hometowns where their funeral will be held with full military honours, the officials said. Incidentally, both Captain Bakshi and Naik Manhas were scheduled to get married in April.
Last week, five terrorists were killed in Rajouri distributed when they tried to infiltrate the Indian side of the LoC. One of the terrorists stepped on a landmine planted in the no-man’s land by the Indian army as part of the anti-infiltration mechanism.
IANS