Mendhar, July 24: An army jawan was killed while another was injured in an accidental mine blast in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch’s Mendhar subdivision on Saturday.
Incident took place on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday when the jawan identified as Sepoy Kamal Dev Vaidya was on an operational duty.
PRO Defence Jammu Lt Col Devender Anand, in an official statement, said, “On July 23 night, army man Sepoy Kamal Dev Vaidya was on an operational duty in Krishna Ghati sector of district Poonch. While moving during the duty, he was critically injured in an accidental mine blast. He was immediately evacuated to the nearest medical facility. But later he succumbed to his injuries.”
According to official statement, Sepoy Kamal Dev Vaidya, 27, belonged to village Ghumarwin, tehsil Bhoranj of district Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh. He is survived by his mother Vanita Devi.
“He was a brave, highly motivated and sincere soldier and the nation will always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty,” Lt Col Anand said.
Later, the post-mortem examination of the deceased’s body was conducted in Sub District Hospital Mendhar.
Official sources said that another army jawan, who suffered injuries in this explosion, was undergoing treatment. However, he was out of danger, they said.
“The operation in the area was launched as a part of routine exercise on the Line of Control besides some specific inputs during which this explosion took place causing fatal loss,” they added.