‘The loss we suffered…’: Family mourns army officer, killed in action in J&K's Doda

Four army personnel, including Captain Brijesh Thapa of 10 Rashtriya Rifles, were killed in action in the encounter that broke out last night.

Mourning the death of Captain Brijesh Thapa, who was killed in action in a gunfight between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda last night, his uncle said on Tuesday that it was easy for people to say that the officer sacrificed his life for the nation, but the family will never be able to cope with this loss.

Captain Brijesh Thapa (The Darjeeling Chronicle)

Pointing to the recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Yogesh Thapa, Captain Brijesh Thapa's uncle, also questioned the central government for not taking action against terrorist groups despite them repeatedly carrying out attacks on forces in the region.

“We don't know when the government will take action against the terrorists. Our soldiers are being killed every day,” he said.

“We are waiting for his (Captain Brijesh Thapa) body to be brought, after which we will go to Darjeeling (West Bengal). His parents live in Darjeeling. He joined the service five years and was brought up in army areas as his father is a Colonel in the army. We expect the body to be handed over by tomorrow,” the uncle added.

Besides Captain Brijesh Thapa, who was with the 10 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), the army lost Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Bijendra and Sepoy Ajay in the Doda encounter, which broke out after a joint party of RR troops and the Special Operations Group of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, launched a cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in the Desa forest area around 7:45 pm on Monday.

A police personnel also sustained injuries in the encounter.

Earlier today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to army chief General Upendra Dwivedi and took a briefing on the ground situation and the ongoing operation.

The terrorists belong to ‘Kashmir Tigers,’ a shadow group of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), according to a statement by the sister outfit.