Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 21 : Army personnel on Friday laid floral tributes on the 5 breavehearts who lost their lives in a terror attack in the Pooch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
"To pay homage to the supreme sacrifice of the five Bravehearts of the Indian Army who laid down their lives in the line of duty in Poonch District on April 20 2023, a wreath-laying ceremony was orgsed at Rajouri with full Military traditions," the Army said in a statement.
Senior army officers and officials from the civil administration attended the sombre wreath-laying ceremony of the fallen bravehearts.
Five jawans were killed and another was seriously injured on Thursday after their vehicle caught fire following a amush attack by suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in the Poonch district.
The army said the terrorists, taking advantage of heavy rains and low visibility in the area, fired upon the vehicle and likely used grenades, which caused the vehicle to go up in flames.
The fallen bravehearts were identified as Hav Mandeep Singh, L/NK Kulwant Singh, Sep Harkrishan Singh and Sep Sewak Singh, all natives of Punjab and L/NK Debashish Biswal, a native of Odisha.
In a statement on Friday, the army said the fallen braves were attached to the Rashtriya Rifles and were deployed for counterterrorist operations in the area.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore each for the next of kin of four deceased soldiers from the state.
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, too, released a statement extending his condolences to the fallen bravehearts.
A statement from the governor's office stated that he was "deeply saddened to hear the news of the martyrdom of five of our soldiers, including four from Punjab and one from Odisha", adding that "their sacrifice for the security of the country will not go in vain".
"The whole country will always remember and respect him," the release quoted the Punjab Governor as saying.
Earlier in the day, a Bomb Disposal Squad and Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police reached the spot at Bhimber Gali in Poonch, where the ambush attack took place.
A massive search operation was also launched on Friday morning in the forests of Bata-Doriya area to track the terrorists.
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