Indian Army major killed after IED blast hits patrol party near LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri

An Indian Army major was killed Saturday in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast near the Line of Control in Rajouri’s Nowshera in Jammu and Kashmir. Another trooper was injured in a ceasefire violation along the LoC in the district, officials said. Major Chitresh Singh Bisht was leading a bomb disposal squad team for sanitisation when mines were detected on the track in Naushera sector around 3 pm, a defence spokesman said. He said the team defused one of the mines successfully but while neutralising another mine, the device got activated and the officer suffered grievous injuries and lost his life. Another solider was injured in the blast and was admitted to a hospital, the officials said. Major Bisht (31) belonged to Dehradun in Uttarakhand and is survived by his parents. “The officer was a brave and sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty,” the spokesman said. This incident occurred just hours after Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation  in the country, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, two days after 42 CRPF jawans were killed in an audacious terror attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama. Singh reviewed the security situation in a meeting attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, among others. During the meeting, top security officials briefed the home minister about the prevailing situation in the country, including along the India-Pakistan border, a home ministry official said. The meeting took stock of the security measures in place to foil any design of the Pakistan-based terrorist groups to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir as well as in hinterlands, the official said. The home minister directed the officials to ensure that all possible steps are taken to hunt down terrorists currently operating in Kashmir valley, another official said. Those who attended the meeting include Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain. Forty-two CRPF personnel were killed and five injured in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.