Senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh today expressed horror and rage at the brutal killing and mutilation of an army jawan by terrorists in Machil sector in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it "appeared to be designed to provoke the Indian forces into continued skirmishes across the border".
On Friday, terrorists, aided by cover fire by Pakistani Army, crossed the Line of Control and killed Mandeep Singh, a soldier with the 17 Sikh Regiment, and mutilated his body.
"The repulsive act, which has naturally triggered furious outrage among the Indian Army, cannot be allowed to go unavenged," the Punjab Congress chief said in a statement issued here.
He urged the Centre to take up the matter at the highest levels with the Pakistani authorities.
"If those guilty of this heinous crime are not punished by the Pakistani government then the Indian Army might be forced to take matters into its own hands... You cannot expect our soldiers to take such atrocities lying down," he said.
"It is evident that the unnecessary and unprovoked killing, and the subsequent mutilation of Mandeep's body was aimed at keeping the Indian armed forces engaged while terrorists take advantage of the skirmishes to sneak into the Indian side of LoC," the former Punjab Chief Minister said.
"New Delhi should aggressively raise such issues at UN and other international platforms in order to expose Islamabad's nefarious designs and isolate it from the world community," he said.
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