Severed head of Indian soldier yet to be found: Army

"The bodies of two soldiers were brutalised--one head was severed and another body was beheaded... It (the head of one of jawan) has not being recovered --probably they have taken it along with them", Deputy Commander of the 25 Division Brigadier J K Tiwari told reporters in Rajouri.

The Army had not been able to recover the head of Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh, he said. Singh was killed along with Lance Naik Hemraj in yesterday's unprovoked attack in Medhar area in Poonch sector.

The Army yesterday said one of the two bodies was mutilated while other sources said the heads of both the Indian soldiers have been chopped off and that one was taken away by Pakistani intruders.

According to Army sources in Delhi, the Pakistan Army regulars who were involved in the attack wore black uniforms and they had slit the throats of both the soldiers in a brutal manner and that the bodies were badly mutilated.

Giving details about the incident, Tiwari said eight soldiers belonging to the 13 Rajputana Rifles were carrying out Area Domination Patrolling (ADP) in two escort parties including 6 jawans on back side and two on the front about 600 metres inside the LoC.

Army officials said the fence on the LoC in that particular area in Krishna Ghati is built 2 Kms inside Indian territory and the Pakistani troops did not have to cross the obstacle to enter Indian territory.

Then men wearing black clothes, suspected to be from the Pakistani Special Forces, took benefit of the thick fog and dense forests and laid ambush, Tiwari said, adding that they fired on patrol party and fire fight continued for 30 minutes. There were also reports that the Pakistani troops belonged to 29 Baloch regiment.

"After the firing stopped, patrol parties moved ahead and came acoss the two dead jawans in a mutilated condition", he said. The incident took place near the Sona Gali area close to the LoC.

The Mendhar area has been the hub of ceasefire violations and cross-border firings in the last one year with close to 90 such incidents.

The area is known as the Barasingha battalion area and is under the overall command of the 10 brigade of the Indian Army.