As Indian forces launched precision strikes on terror launchpads across the Line of Control (LoC) on May 7, the impact resonated deeply in Nagpur — home to several retired soldiers now serving in the Nuisance Detection Squad (NDS) of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation.
Veterans from elite units like Rashtriya Rifles, 141 Medium Regiment, and 1st Mahar Infantry recalled chilling memories from their service in insurgency-hit Jammu & Kashmir. For them, the recent strikes aren’t just military actions — they’re deeply personal.
“These camps aren’t hideouts — they’re terror factories,” said retired Subedar Major Virsen Tambe, who served in Tral during the 1990s. He recounted a 1994 encounter where Jaish terrorists used homes as media hubs to record and distribute hate propaganda. “We found jihadi tapes, martyrdom messages — the real battlefield wasn’t just with guns, but minds.”
Tambe also described launchpads doubling as training centers for suicide bombers, recalling Lashkar-e-Taiba’s use of a female fidayeen in the ’90s. “Even a tea break was dangerous — one of our jawans died from a grenade hidden under a cooking stone.”
Veteran artillery officer Arvind Kumar Baghele, a Kargil war veteran, highlighted how these launchpads acted as enemy intelligence posts. “Coordinates of our positions were passed on to Pakistani batteries. We lost men to that betrayal.”
Sanjay Khandare of 1st Mahar Infantry remembered Pakistani flags flying in Indian villages on Independence Day and the brutal beheading of an Army guide by JKLF terrorists. “It wasn’t just war — it was psychological warfare,” he said.
As India’s counter-strikes hit hard, these veterans agree: “These aren’t just strikes. They’re payback.”
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