An Army Captain and a junior commissioned officer (JCO) were killed while five other personnel sustained injuries in an accidental explosion at a forward place along the Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar sector of Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in the night of July 17, reports Daily Excelsior. Confirming the incident, Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand, Public Relation Officer (PRO), Jammu, said, “On the night July 17, an accidental grenade blast occurred, when the Indian Army troops were performing their duties along the Line of Control in Mendhar sector.” “The Grenade blast resulted in injuries to a few soldiers, who were immediately evacuated by a helicopter to Command Hospital in Udhampur.” Colonel Anand said, “During the treatment, Captain Anand and Naib Subedar Bhagwan Singh succumbed to their fatal injuries.”
Separately, one Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer, Assistant Sub-Inspector Vinod Kumar, was killed in a militant attack on a joint naka party of Police and CRPF in Gangoo area of Pulwama District on July 17, reports Daily Excelsior.