"Too much hype over surgical strike": Former army officer
Chandigarh : The initial euphoria over the success of the surgical strike was natural but the constant hype around it is unwarranted, said a former Army officer who was associated with the operation. "I do think there was too much hype over it. The military operation was important and we had to do it. Now how much should it have been politicised, whether it is right or wrong is something that should be asked to politicians," said Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retired) who was the Northern Army Commander when the operation was carried out on September 29, 2016 across the Line of Control (LoC).
Lt. General Hooda saw the live video feed of the surgical strike, which was launched in retaliation to the Uri terror attack in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistani terrorists. The Army had said its special forces inflicted "significant casualties" on terrorists waiting there to cross into Indian territory.
Lt. General Hooda had approved the plans for special forces to retaliate less than two weeks after the Uri terror attack. The army officer made the comments in Chandigarh, where he attended the Military Literature Festival (MLF).
The Army officer participated in a panel discussion on the topic "Role of Cross-Border Operations and Surgical Strikes", which was attended by Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore and a number of former Generals and Army Commanders. Many war veterans cautioned against "politicisation" of military operations.
Lt. General Hooda said it was natural to have initial euphoria about the success but the constant maintenance of hype around the military operations was unwarranted, the release said.
Responding to a question from the audience, General Hooda said in hindsight, it would have been better had we done it (surgical strikes) secretly.The aim of any such offensive had to be not only tactical but strategic too, which substantially hampers enemy morale, he said.
Citing the example of the 1981 Israeli air strikes on Iraqi nuclear sites, which had caused considerable damage, Lt General (retd) N S Brar underscored the need to ensure long-term impact on the enemy before undertaking any such operation in the future.
Cautioning the political masters against being adventurists, General Brar asked if the political masters would have taken responsibility had there been any causalities in the strikes, the release said quoting him.
courtesy : ndtv.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UP man gets life term for electrocuting mentally challenged wife to death in Bareilly
Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A local court here has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his mentally challenged wife by repeatedly electrocuting her while she was tied to a cot, lawyers said on Thursday.
Additional district government counsel Harendra Singh Rathore said Additional Sessions Judge Avinash Kumar Singh on Wednesday convicted Vinod Kumar (45) for killing his wife, Satyavati, in Chaina village of Bareilly district and imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on him.
According to the prosecution, he was allegedly frustrated with his wife Satyavati's mental illness and often assaulted her.
Rathore said the prosecution examined nine witnesses to establish the charges against him.
As per court records, on the night of May 1-2, 2022, when Satyavati was asleep, Vinod tied her hands and legs to a cot using ropes and then connected an aluminium cable to an electric board to repeatedly administer electric shocks to her.
"She writhed in pain, but the accused continued to electrocute her until she died," the prosecution said.
The court observed that the murder was carried out in an inhuman manner.
After committing the crime, the accused threw the rope and cable on the roof and left for work at a brick kiln around 2 am to create a false alibi.
He later tried to mislead the police and the victim's family by claiming that Satyavati, whose mental condition was unstable, had accidentally died by suicide after grabbing a live electric wire.
However, the victim's brother, Sanjeev, a resident of Shahjahanpur district, suspected foul play and lodged an FIR under sections 498A (husband subjecting wife to cruelty) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Nawabganj police station.
During the trial, the prosecution relied on the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Faraz Anwar, who stated that multiple electrocution marks found on different parts of the victim's body could not have been self-inflicted.
The police also recovered the rope and electric wire used in the crime on the accused's identification, officials said.
