Srinagar, Nov. 16: A BSF deputy inspector-general was killed today near the Pakistan border when his vehicle was blown up by a landmine suspected to have been planted by militants who tried to sneak in but were beaten back last night.
.P. Tanwar, 48, is the senior-most BSF officer to be killed in a decade in Jammu and Kashmir.
A BSF officer said the militants pushed back last night had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) several hundred metres inside the border in the Ramnagar area of Jammu’s Samba district.
“The explosion was so strong that the vehicle was blown to pieces,” a source said. Tanwar’s driver and guard were critically injured.
DIG J.B. Sangwan said the slain officer was supervising the search for the infiltrators when the blast occurred early this morning. Sources believe the militants were watching the BSF’s movements and triggered the blast when the Bolero carrying Tanwar and the others reached the spot.
Sources said the blast took place between the zero line on the border and the fence, built some 2km inside Indian territory to protect border posts from Pakistani shelling.
The search for the infiltrators is still on. “They may have gone back (to Pakistan),” a source said. BSF officers will meet their counterparts from the Pakistani Rangers to lodge a protest against the incident.
BSF sources said Tanwar was only the third DIG-rank officer killed during the two-decade-long militancy. His death came on a day two army soldiers and as many militants were killed in gun battles elsewhere in the state.
BSF DIG S.K. Chakarvorty was killed in the first-ever fidayeen attack on a BSF camp in north Kashmir’s Bandipore in July 1999. Before that, another DIG was killed at Nishat in Srinagar.
The BSF was at the forefront of the fight against militants but was withdrawn from counter-insurgency operations after the Kargil war.
The BSF’s role is now largely restricted to guarding the 192km international border in Jammu, though a few battalions are still in the Valley. The force has lost over 750 of its men in clashes with militants.
Infiltration through the Jammu border has been increasing in recent years. In August last year, three militants cut the border fence and took several hostages at Chinore in Jammu. The 20-hour hostage drama ended with the killing of the militants but seven persons, including security personnel, had lost their lives by then.
The army soldiers who died in the other incidents today belonged to the 9 Rajput Regiment. They were shot while beating back infiltrators on the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Keran. One militant was also killed during the operation, which is still on.
Lt Col J.S. Brar, the defence spokesman in Srinagar, said the sneak-in attempt occurred 36 hours after five infiltrators were killed in Uri. A Hizb-ul Mujahideen commander, Rahman Gursi, was killed in another encounter that took place at Pulwama in south Kashmir.
.P. Tanwar, 48, is the senior-most BSF officer to be killed in a decade in Jammu and Kashmir.
A BSF officer said the militants pushed back last night had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) several hundred metres inside the border in the Ramnagar area of Jammu’s Samba district.
“The explosion was so strong that the vehicle was blown to pieces,” a source said. Tanwar’s driver and guard were critically injured.
DIG J.B. Sangwan said the slain officer was supervising the search for the infiltrators when the blast occurred early this morning. Sources believe the militants were watching the BSF’s movements and triggered the blast when the Bolero carrying Tanwar and the others reached the spot.
Sources said the blast took place between the zero line on the border and the fence, built some 2km inside Indian territory to protect border posts from Pakistani shelling.
The search for the infiltrators is still on. “They may have gone back (to Pakistan),” a source said. BSF officers will meet their counterparts from the Pakistani Rangers to lodge a protest against the incident.
BSF sources said Tanwar was only the third DIG-rank officer killed during the two-decade-long militancy. His death came on a day two army soldiers and as many militants were killed in gun battles elsewhere in the state.
BSF DIG S.K. Chakarvorty was killed in the first-ever fidayeen attack on a BSF camp in north Kashmir’s Bandipore in July 1999. Before that, another DIG was killed at Nishat in Srinagar.
The BSF was at the forefront of the fight against militants but was withdrawn from counter-insurgency operations after the Kargil war.
The BSF’s role is now largely restricted to guarding the 192km international border in Jammu, though a few battalions are still in the Valley. The force has lost over 750 of its men in clashes with militants.
Infiltration through the Jammu border has been increasing in recent years. In August last year, three militants cut the border fence and took several hostages at Chinore in Jammu. The 20-hour hostage drama ended with the killing of the militants but seven persons, including security personnel, had lost their lives by then.
The army soldiers who died in the other incidents today belonged to the 9 Rajput Regiment. They were shot while beating back infiltrators on the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Keran. One militant was also killed during the operation, which is still on.
Lt Col J.S. Brar, the defence spokesman in Srinagar, said the sneak-in attempt occurred 36 hours after five infiltrators were killed in Uri. A Hizb-ul Mujahideen commander, Rahman Gursi, was killed in another encounter that took place at Pulwama in south Kashmir.
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