Two Indian Army soldiers lost their lives in an accidental blast near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri sector on Wednesday. The incident took place in the Kamalkote area of Baramulla district, officials said. The soldiers were seriously injured in the explosion and were rushed to the Army’s Base Hospital in Srinagar’s Badamibagh Cantonment for treatment. However, doctors could not save them.

Officials identified the deceased soldiers as Arjun Jadhav and Vikram Balakrishna, both natives of Maharashtra. They were serving with the 8 Rashtriya Rifles.

Investigation underway into blast

According to officials, the exact cause of the blast is still not known. An investigation is underway to determine how the explosion occurred.

“They have been identified as Arjun Jadhav and Vikram Balakrishna, both of whom belonged to Maharashtra. They were shifted after sustaining critical injuries to the army’s base hospital in the Badamibagh Cantonment area of Srinagar, but despite the best efforts of the doctors, they couldn’t be revived,” official sources said.

Both soldiers belonged to the 8 Rashtriya Rifles. The exact details as to how the explosion occurred are awaited.

Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir has a 740-km-long LoC situated in the Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora districts of the Valley. In the Jammu division, the LoC is situated in Poonch, Rajouri, and partly in the Jammu district.

In addition, the Union Territory has a 240-km-long International Border, running through the Samba, Jammu, and Kathua districts of Jammu division.

The LoC is guarded by the army, while the international border is guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF).

Both the army and the BSF are deployed on the border to prevent infiltration, exfiltration, smuggling, and drone activity initiated from across the border.

Hi-tech anti-drone equipment has been installed on the LoC and the international border to check the menace of drones into the Indian side of the border.

These drones are used by terror outfits with the assistance of Pakistani forces to drop payloads of arms, ammunition, cash, and drugs into the Indian side.

These payloads are picked up by the overground workers (OGWs) of the terrorist groups and then passed on to the terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir to sustain terrorism.