LeT, Jaish terrorists were part of team that beheaded soldier

Terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba were involved along with Pakistani soldiers in the killing of two Indian soldiers, one of whom was beheaded, in a cross-LoC attack last month.

This information was given by the officials of the defence ministry and the army to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence on Thursday, sources told PTI.

In their presentation, the officials told the committee that the killing and beheading was carried out by Pakistan Army's Special Services Group (SSG) and terrorists from LeT and JeM were part of the operation, the sources said.

On January 8, Lance Naiks Hemraj and Sudhakar Singh were killed by the Border Action Team after crossing the LoC in Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The attackers beheaded Hemraj and took away his head. Sudhakar Singh's body was also mutilated by them.

During the meeting, some members of the committee sought to know from the officials about the steps taken by the army and the government to bring back the head of Hemraj.

The committee was informed that various efforts were being undertaken including through diplomatic channels to press Pakistan to return the head of the soldier with dignity under established military laws and international conventions.

The committee was also informed about the present security situation along the LoC and the steps taken by the Army there, the sources said.

The committee was also told about the number of incidents of beheading that have taken place along the LoC in the past.

Following the incident, there were several ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army.

The situation calmed down after the second round of talks between the director generals of Military Operations of the two sides.