Udhampur: An Indian Army colonel and a major along with a deputy superintendent of police of the Jammu & Kashmir Police were killed in a gunbattle with militants in the Union territory in two separate incidences, on Wednesday. This is considered to be one of the worst casualties of our security forces in Kashmir in recent years.
According to the J&K Police, in the first incident, an encounter broke out between the security forces and the terrorists hiding in Gadole forests of Kokernag in Anantnag during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday following a specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area. In the gunfire exchange, Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles; Major Ashish of the same RR battalion; and J&K Police’s DSP, Humayun Bhat, were critically injured.
Saddened by the loss of Col Manpreet Singh, Maj Aashish Dhonchak and Dy SP Humayun in an encounter with terrorists.
— Lt Gen Satish Dua 🇮🇳 (@TheSatishDua) September 13, 2023
19 RR is the same unit that eliminated Burhan Wani in 2016 when I was Corps Commander. They will avenge...
RIP Brothers 🙏
Jai Hind 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/ncpv41mQXD
Colonel Manpreet Singh from 19 Rashtriya Rifles, who was with the 12 Sikh Light Infantry of the Army and a Sena Medal awardee. The IA major who fell was Major Ashish Dhonchak. Although he was from the same RR battalion, his parental Army regiment is not yet known.
Bhat was the son of former a deputy inspector general (DIG) of the J&K Police, Ghulam Hassan Bhat. The names of Indian Army colonel and the major who fell during the firearms exchange with militants have also emerged.
In separate anti-terror gunbattles, two more security officers, including a special police officer fell to militant firing. Details are sketchy about this encounter at the time of publication.
The jihadist organization “Resistance Front (TRF)”, which is believed to be a shadow group of Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), has reportedly claimed responsibility for the fatal skirmish with the Indian Army soldiers.
