Pak attackers carried ‘special knives’ to mutilate Indians: Army

24 Jun 2017

Pakistani Border Action Team members were armed with ''special daggers'' to mutilate Indian soldiers and 'headband cameras' to record the attack on an Indian patrol party after entering 600 meters across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, according to reports today.

The attack left two Indian soldiers dead while one BAT member was killed in retaliatory action by Indian troops.

 A Pakistani commando shot dead by the Indian Army after he crossed the Line of Control in an attempt to behead Indian soldiers on Friday was wearing a camera mounted to his head. NDTV reports that senior Army officers are studying the footage, which may show the Pakistan BAT crossing the Line of Control.

The footage examined so far may include video of Pakistani training camps as well, NDTV's sources have said.

"The body of the intruder killed in the BAT attempt on 22 June has been retrieved and handed over to the local police," a senior Army officer told news agency PTI.

"Arms, ammunition and other war-like stores including a special dagger and a headband with a camera, knife, an AK rifle, 3 magazines, and 2 grenades besides dresses and bags were recovered, which reflect the barbaric mindset of the Pakistan army," he said.

"The resolute action of our soldiers didn't let the nefarious plan (of mutilating bodies and recording it on camera) succeed," the officer said.

Giving details, the officer said that a special class of dagger and a knife was meant to engineer quick mutilation and beheading of jawans killed in the firing exchanges and it had been foiled by the quick action by Indian soldiers.

The officer said it is matter of investigation whether the camera was live connected with Pakistan army establishments across the border. "The data and details of the camera will be analysed," he said.

"We are confident that another BAT member has also been killed but his body was taken back by the other members of the BAT," he said.

In the third such attack this year, a team of Pakistani special forces on Thursday sneaked 600 metres across the  (LoC) in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Border Action Team (BAT), which generally comprises special forces personnel of the Pakistan army and terrorists, carried out the attack at around 2 pm on Thursday under heavy cover fire by Pakistani troops from their posts, he said.

The armed intruders targeted an area domination patrol of the Indian Army, triggering a gunfight, the official said.

The Indian troops killed one of the attackers and injured another whose extrication was facilitated by the cover fire by the Pakistani troops from their posts.

In the firefight, two Indian soldiers were killed. They were 34-year-old Naik Jadhav Sandip of Aurangabad, Maharashtra and 24-year-old Sepoy Mane Savan Balku of Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

The Pakistani firing continued till 3.30pm on Thursday even as the Indian posts retaliated strongly.

In a similar BAT attack on 1 May, two Indian soldiers were beheaded in Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district. That attack too was carried out under the cover of shelling by the Pakistani troops.