NEW DELHI, July 22: India’s army commander for Jammu and Kashmir and another general were injured on Tuesday, and a brigadier killed, in an attack by suspected militants in an attack on a military garrison, a defence ministry spokesman said.
Lieutenant General Hari Prasad and another general received minor injuries in the attack and Brigadier V K Govil of the 16th Corps has died, spokesman P K Bandhopadhya was quoted by news reports as saying.
Lt Gen Prasad was appointed on June 1 as General Officer Commander-in-Chief of the Indian army’s crucial Northern Command, which is responsible for the security of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to some reports from Jammu, the three top-ranking officers were present in the garrison where at least two armed Kashmiri rebels earlier staged the attack that left dead at least seven army personnel and the two raiders.
Press Trust of India said Lt Gen Prasad received injuries and has been flown to Srinagar for treatment.
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) 16 Corps Lt Gen T P S Brar, Major General Sapru, commander of a brigade based in Akhnoor, Brigadier Baldev Singh and Colonel Jais Rawat, staff officer of Gen Prasad, were the other officers injured, PTI said. They have also been flown to the Army Hospital in Srinagar for treatment.
The attack took place at around 1315 hours IST when a holed-up militant opened fire and lobbed grenades, Press Trust of India said quoting defence sources.
Brigadier Govil (some reports said his last name was Goyal) was seriously injured in the attack and succumbed soon after, they said.
Gen Prasad, Gen Brar, Brigadier Singh and Col Rawat sustained shrapnel injuries, they said.
The militant was later killed at around 1440 hours IST by the armymen.
His two associates were gunned down earlier while a search was on for the possible fourth accomplice.
Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes is flying to Jammu on Wednesday to take stock of the situation.
Mr Fernandes, apart from meeting the army top brass, will also meet state officials.
Meanwhile, Indian Army Chief Gen N C Vij has dashed to Jammu, Press Trust of India said.
The attack happened when Pakistan’s hardline Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman was meeting senior leaders of the rightwing Hindu Rahstriya Swayamsewak Sangh, both seeking ways to help calm the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
SABOTAGE: India charged on Tuesday that attacks by suspected Kashmiri fighters on an army base and a Hindu shrine which left 17 people dead in occupied Kashmir were aimed at derailing a fledgling peace process with Pakistan, AFP adds from Jammu.
In a major departure from its usual response to such attacks, New Delhi for once did not point the finger at Pakistan but rather at those it said were out to sabotage peace efforts.
“Normally we consider these terrorist strikes as part of the continuing proxy war but these incidents are an attempt to disturb the normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir,” Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani told parliament.
Junior Home Minister Swami Chinmayanand carefully avoided blaming Islamabad.
“It is still not known who is behind these attacks but one thing is clear: that militants are trying to derail the peace process between India
and Pakistan and disrupt normalcy in Kashmir,” the minister said.
