Killed Lieutenant Fayaz was groomed for a platoon commander

Five months in the Indian Army, the slain Kashmir-born young Army Officer Lt Ummer Fayaz was selected for the Young Officer's Course for his elevation as a platoon and company commander.

Commissioned in the 2 Rajputana Rifles in December 2016, the Lieutenant was abducted by the militants and killed last night when he visited his uncle's place at Batapura (near Behibagh) in Shopian unarmed to attend his daughter's wedding ceremony.

Fresh from the National Defence Academy, he was chosen for the Young Officer's Course that prepares a recruit to take on the job of a field commander. The six-month-long courses are held at the Infantry School, Mhow and Commando School, Belgaum.

Lt Fayaz, whose father is a small-time apple farmer in Jammu and Kashmir, was remembered as an excellent volleyball and hockey player at the NDA, recalled an officer. “He was an honest officer, physically tough, full of josh (energy) and troops enjoyed being with him,” said an officer.

“This marks a watershed moment in Kashmir valley and people of Kashmir will decisively turn the tide against terrorism. I assure the family that perpetrators of this heinous crime and dastardly act will not be spared,” Lt Gen Abhay Krishna, commanding-in-chief of the South Western Command and Colonel of the Rajputana Rifle wrote in his condolence message.

Since the killing of Hizbul Mujaiheeden commander Burhan Wani in July 2016, the Jammu and Kashmir is on a boil. Violent clashes with the security forces and stone-pelting have become commonplace and elections were virtually boycotted by the people. The Army has just now sent an additional battalion (1,000 troops) to the northern state to strengthen the security grid.

The Shopian district where the incident happened witnessed a dawn-to-dusk cordon and search operations last week involving 4,000 Army troops and eight company of CRPF in addition to five platoons of Jammu and Kashmir and women police teams.

The purpose of the cordon and search operation, Army sources said, was area domination following a spate of bank robberies and attacks on security personnel in the recent past.

This, however, was not the first time when Armed forces officers were killed by the militants in Jammu and Kashmir. In the 1990s, a young Indian Air Force officer Sq Leader R K Khanna was shot by the militants from close quarters.