Para Commando Martyred in Udhampur Encounter Days After Pahalgam Attack; Two Injured

An Indian Army Para Special Forces commando was killed and two others injured during a fierce encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Thursday, just two days after the devastating Pahalgam terror attack. The martyred soldier has been identified as Havaldar Jhantu Ali Sheikh of the 6 Para SF battalion. According to officials, the gunfight erupted during a cordon and search operation in the Dudu-Basantgarh area, following intelligence inputs about terrorist presence.

"Based on specific intelligence, a joint operation with Jammu and Kashmir Police was launched today in the Basantgarh area of Udhampur," the White Knight Corps said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). “One of our bravehearts sustained grievous injuries in the initial exchange and later succumbed despite the best medical efforts," the post further noted.

Jhantu Ali Sheikh, originally from Nadia, West Bengal, had been stationed in Agra before being urgently deployed to Kashmir after the Pahalgam attack on April 22, that claimed the lives of 26 tourists, most of them Hindus. His elder brother is also serving in the Indian Army and is currently posted in Kashmir.

Sheikh leaves behind wife, a 12-year-old son, and a six-year-old daughter. His elderly parents, who live in Nadia, were devastated by the news. “As the news of the killing reached the home around 11 am, the ailing mother had fainted. The father too has been in shock. The wife couldn’t reach his phone in the past few hours and thus had gotten in touch with the family. The elder brother was requested to check on him, is when the phone also came to him informing about the encounter that killed his brother,” said Nizam Sheikh, cousin of the martyred commando. Security forces continue their operation in the region amid heightened tensions following the recent spate of terror attacks.​