New Delhi: The killing of Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh of 22 Sikh Infantry and Head Constable Prem Sagar of 200th Battalion of BSF on Monday in Jammu and Kashmir has once again brought attention on the rogue unit of the Pakistan Army, referred to as border action team (BAT).
The two Indian jawans were killed when their 10-member patrol team was attacked by a BAT hit squad, which reportedly sneaked 200 metres into Indian territory in Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district.
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Tuesday said that the strike was well-planned and the BAT squad had regular Pakistan army men and militants.
It is not the first time BAT attacks on jawans on the Indian side of the border have happened. Pakistan specifically uses BAT for raids across the Line of Control.
Here’s a list of major incidents in which BAT hit squads were involved:
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■ 28 October 2016: Militants attacked a post and killed an Indian army soldier and mutilated his body close to the Line of Control (LoC) in the Machil sector.
■ January 2013: Lance Naik Hemraj was killed and his body mutilated by BAT. It also beheaded Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh. Constable Rajinder Singh of the BSF suffered injuries in the attack.
■ June 2008: A soldier of the 2/8 Gorkha Rifles lost his way and was captured by BAT in Kel sector. His body was found beheaded after a few days.
■ During the 1999 Kargil conflict, Captain Saurabh Kalia was tortured by his Pakistani captors who later handed over his mutilated body to India.
■ February 2000: Terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri had led a raid on the Indian army’s ‘Ashok Listening Post’ in the Nowshera sector and killed seven Indian soldiers. Even then, Kashmiri had taken back to Pakistan the head of a 24-year-old Indian jawan Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar of the 17 Maratha Light Infantry.