Deeply pained to learn Indian Army lost its valiant soldiers: Mamata Banerjee on Poonch terror attack

Offering her condolences to the family members of the Indian Army soldiers killed during an attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch area, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she is “deeply pained” by the tragic incident.

“Deeply pained to learn that the Indian Army lost its valiant soldiers in an extremely tragic incident in J&K. Our jawans laid down their lives in the line of duty and their supreme sacrifice will never be forgotten. I offer my sincere condolences to the bereaved families,” Banerjee tweeted.

After coming out of the meeting, Bhaskar Ghosh, the convenor of the United Forum, said, “The net result of the meeting has been zero. The state government could not give any assurance regarding the payment of dues.”

Meanwhile, the wife of a slain soldier recalled her last conversation with him. “Yesterday, we spoke twice over call. Then we didn’t receive any calls from him. I called him several times, but he didn’t receive any of them. Later we got the news,” said Daljeet Kaur, the wife of Sepoy Harkrishan Singh, as per reports.

A family member of Havildar Mandeep Singh, who hailed from Ludhiana, said that they received a call from the company commander about the tragic incident at around 6:30 pm on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, five Indian army soldiers were killed and one sustained injuries during an attack on the Army vehicle in Poonch area of Jammu and Kashmir. The martyred soldiers were from the Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations, the Indian Army said in a statement.

The vehicle in which the soldiers were travelling came under fire from unidentified terrorists and caught fire because of the likely use of grenades, the Indian Army added.