Nine years after a young Indian soldier on duty at the Line of Control was beheaded and seven of his colleagues killed in a cross-border raid, the Pakistani militant who owned up for the act was reported killed in a US drone strike in North Waziristan last week.

Indian Army records show that the man who was beheaded in 2000 was Sepoy Bhausaheb Maruti Talekar of the 17 Maratha Light Infantry (MLI).

Ilyas Kashmiri, according to a report in the Pakistani daily The News, was behind the guerilla attack on an Indian Army post in Nowshera sector in February 2000.

Kashmiri, a Harkat-ul-Jehad al-Islami (HuJI) commander, was said to have been felicitated by then Army chief General Pervez Musharraf and rewarded with Rs 1 lakh for bringing back “the head of an Indian officer”.

According to records here, Talekar, the 24-year-old soldier from Maharashtra, was posted at a border listening post — the 24-yr-old sepoy was beheaded in 2000 LoC raid

Ashok LP post in Rajouri district — that was surrounded by three Pakistani posts when it was attacked in the early hours of February 27, 2000 by Pakistani troops and irregulars.

The incident took place at time when the two armies were lodged in an intense exchange of fire — small arms and artillery — that was taking place all along the LoC.

Talekar was on guard duty at the post when a guerilla attack was launched under the cover of heavy mortar and rocket fire from Pakistani positions. He was also the first casualty of the raid — Army reports say his throat was slit by the enemy in a sneak action following which the attackers opened fire inside the bunker, killing seven jawans.

... contd.