Poonch terror ambush: Six locals detained, IAF chief pays tribute to corporal Vikky

Four were injured in J&K’s Poonch on May 4 around 6.15pm after their security vehicles were fired upon by terrorists

As security forces continued to scan the jungles of Surankote on Sunday to track-down the attackers, who ambushed a convoy of the IAF at Sanai Top area on Saturday evening, police have detained six suspects, all locals, to crack the case, said people privy to the investigations.

Security personnel during cordon and search operation in Poonch on Saturday. (PTI)

One soldier was killed and four others were injured in J&K’s Poonch on May 4 around 6.15pm after their security vehicles were fired upon by terrorists.

“Six locals have been detained for questioning. Aerial surveillance has also been launched in the hills of Shahsitar, Lassana Top, Sanai Top, Gursai, Sheendhara Top and adjoining areas to track-down the movement of terrorists, believed to be four in numbers,” said sources.

Investigators believe locals provided logistics to terrorists

The hilly area has dense jungles, natural hideouts and an undulating terrain. However, there has been no contact with the attackers yet, they added. The terrorists, investigators believed, were provided logistical support by the locals and had used US made M4 rifles and AK 47 assault rifles in the attack.

Soon after the attack, the injured soldiers were evacuated to Udhampur Command Hospital where one of them succumbed to his injuries. He was identified as corporal Vikky Pahade.

“The CAS Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and all personnel of Indian Air Force salute the braveheart Corporal Vikky Pahade, who made the supreme sacrifice in Poonch Sector, in the service of the nation Our deepest condolences to the bereaved family. We stand firmly by your side in this hour of grief,” IAF wrote on ‘X’.

The 33-year-old hailed from Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district and was a resident of Nonia-Karbal village. He had visited his family last month to attend his sister’s wedding and had joined the unit on April 18. Corporal Pahde had joined IAF in 2011. He is survived by his five-year-old son, wife, mother and three sisters.

The attack has come days before Poonch goes to the polls on May 25 as part of the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency. The polling for the constituency was rescheduled by the Election Commission after leaders across the political divide sought rescheduling due to adverse weather conditions.

The Election Commission had asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to immediately submit a detailed report on road conditions, weather and accessibility to the region which covers parts of South Kashmir and areas in Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu region.

The polling was initially scheduled to be held on May 7, in the third phase of the seven-phase elections. The border district of Poonch, along with adjoining Rajouri, has witnessed some major terrorist attacks over the past two years.

The latest incident in the Pir Panjal region follows the killing of government employee Mohd Razaq, brother of an Army personnel, by terrorists in Rajouri’s Kunda Top on April 22 and village defence guard Mohd Sharief in the Basantgarh area of Udhampur on April 28.

Police have released pictures of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including suspected Pakistani national Abu Hamza, involved in the murder of Razaq and announced a cash reward of ₹10 lakh for information leading to his arrest.

The Bufliaz ambush in December last year came weeks after a major gunfight in the Dharmsal belt of Bajimaal forest in Rajouri that left five Army personnel, including two captains, dead.

Two terrorists, including top LeT commander Quari, were also killed in the two-day gunfight. Quari was said to be the mastermind behind several attacks, including the killing of 10 civilians and five Army personnel in the district.

The stretch between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz on the boundary of Rajouri and Poonch is densely forested and leads to Chamrer forest and then Bhata Dhurian forest, where five soldiers were killed in an ambush attack on an Army vehicle on April 20 last year.

In May last year, five more Army personnel were killed and a major-rank officer was injured in Chamrer forest during an anti-terrorist operation. A foreign terrorist was also killed in the operation.

In 2022, five Army personnel were killed when terrorists carried out a suicide attack on their camp at Pargal in the Darhal area of Rajouri district. Both the terrorists involved in the attack were eliminated.

In 2021, nine soldiers were killed in two attacks by terrorists in the forested region. While five Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed on October 11 in Chamrer, a JCO and three soldiers were killed on October 14 in a nearby forest.