NEW DELHI: Lal Fam Kima, the head constable of the BSF, was killed on Thursday in an unprovoked Pakistani sniper attack on the Jammu International Border. He was an intrepid soldier who had previously rescued twelve of his comrades during a counter-terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir along the Line of Control. During an operation in the Gool hamlet during the winter of 1998–1999, Kima had cried out, “Tum sala pin nikalega,” before he discharged his light machine gun (LMG) to kill a terrorist holed up inside a “dhoke” (mud house). The settlement is situated along the India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC) in the high parts of the Pir Panjal range.A heartfelt and charming essay about the operation was written by Kima’s former commanding officer (CO) and circulated around several Border Security Force (BSF) officers via social media. In Jammu’s Ramgarh sector along the India-Pakistan International Border, Kima, 50, was killed in the line of duty on Thursday when he was wounded by a bullet fired by a Pakistani sniper from across the border. The head constable, an Aizawl native, enlisted in the border guard in 1996 and was assigned to the 148th BSF unit, which was tasked with protecting the IB.Kima’s former CO said in the “remembrance” post for the brave soldier that when he learned of the tragedy early in the morning, his “heart argued against his mind,” wondering whether it was his old colleague who had been killed in an unjustified shooting incident. The ex-commander of the LOC wrote in the post that he had “spent all these years quoting Kima’s conspicuous act of bravery and alertness to young officers and troops” during the roughly 25-year historical operation. The article, viewed by claimed that the terrorists were holed up inside a “dhoke” and that, following a firefight and grenade exchange, the militants blew themselves up to execute a “fidayeen” (suicide) attack, killing the BSF party nearby as well. The BSF squad discovered three dead terrorists within the burning remains of the mud hut, even as smoke continued to billow from the “dhoke.” “Abruptly, there came a deafening cry. TU MAJOR PIN NIKALEGA? Subsequently, an explosion of LMG caused everyone to flee for safety,” the post stated.“This was Lal Fam Kima (he was constable then), who had spotted the almost dead terrorist (taken for dead by BSF) removing the pin from grenade even while he was taking his last breath,” stated the officer. “While rest of the party was busy rummaging and recovering war like stores, it was the ever-alert Kima who spotted the surreptitious movement of dying terrorist trying to blow off the grenade,” the previous chief of staff wrote. He went on, “If the terrorist had been successful, we would have undoubtedly lost dozens of people and the successful, clean operation would have gone bad.” “Lal Fam Kima became a martyr today. When he was a young constable with two or three years of experience, he was fearless. As a head constable, he is now fearless. “This modest, straightforward, and modest warrior lived bravely and gave his life bravely,” he penned in the post that was circulated among a number of BSF officers and employees. Before Kima’s body was returned to his native state of Mizoram, a wreath was placed at his mortal remains in Jammu. His mother, wife, two children, and son all survive him.
