Bad weather spikes army chief's Poonch visit

Indian Army chief General Bikram Singh arrived here Wednesday to take stock of the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in the aftermath of the killings of five Indian soldiers by Pakistani intruders. Bad weather, however, forced the cancellation of his visit to Poonch district where the incident occurred.

Due to bad weather, the chopper carrying him could not take off and Gen. Bikram Singh then travelled to Akhnoor, 30 km from here, to meet the local commanders, sources said.

On his arrival here, Gen. Bikram Singh first visited the Nagrota headquarters of 16 Corps, which is responsible for manning the LoC in Jammu region, including the Poonch district.

He later interacted with senior army officers at the division headquarters at Rajouri.

Terrorists, some in Pakistani army uniforms, Tuesday shot dead the Indian soldiers in Chakan Da Bagh sector of Poonch, 400 metres inside Indian territory.

Four of the dead Indian soldiers belonged to the 21 Bihar Regiment and one to the 14 Maratha Light Infantry Regiment.