On May 1, a group of terrorists and Indian security forces engaged in an intense encounter in the forest area of Rajwara in Jammu Kashmir’s Kupwara near Handwara. The gunfight between the two sides lasted 13 hours and resulted in the death of five brave Indian forces personnel, including one J&K police officer.
Col Ashutosh Sharma, Major Anuj Sood, Naik Rajesh Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh Singh, and J&K Police Sub Inspector Sageer Pathan were slain in the fierce gun battle which was confirmed by Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh.
"Based on the intelligence input that terrorists were taking the civilian inmates of a house in Changimulla, (in the) Handwara (area) of Kupwara district, hostage, a joint operation was launch by Army and JK Police. A team comprising of five Army and JK Police personnel entered the target area occupied by the terrorists to evacuate the civ (civilians)," the official statement read.
"The team of Army and JK Police entered the tgt (target) area and successfully extricated the civ. However, during the process, the team was subjected to a heavy volume of fire by the terrorists," it added.
Two terrorists were also killed in the gun-battle, but the whole of India mourned the five brave souls who laid their lives in service of the country. Tributes poured in from everywhere including the Indian PM Narendra Modi and the Army itself.
Indian cricket fraternity was also shocked to hear the demise of Indian security forces personnel and took to Twitter in order to pay their tributes to the fallen.
Here are some of the tweets:
