The army camp attacked near Kupwara on Thursday morning did not have the enhanced security features that include a nine-ft wall with an electric security fence equipped with sensors. This was part of a plan following a security audit of military installations after the terror strike on the Pathankot Air Force base.
The heavily armed terrorists managed to cut the regular perimetre fencing and gained easy access into the camp that is about 12 km from the LoC housing 700-800 people from artillery and infantry killing two jawans and an officer.
The plan for upgraded security mechanisms has still not been implemented in several military installations making them vulnerable to such raids.
"The kind of fencing that was there is easy to breach. The plan to have additional walls and electric fencing is still not fully operational. Some installations have got it but it will take time to completely secure all as the money required is huge," said an army officer.
Two terrorists were gunned down within 7-8 minutes of the strike and another fled. "Any casualty was in the initial few minutes. The terrorists were stopped from entering the main campus," said an officer.
It was the alacrity shown by Gunner Rishi Kumar, on sentry duty, that averted a major disaster. He spotted the terrorists and waited for them to come within close range. "He engaged them and was hit on the head but was saved by the bulletproof patka. He fell down but was quick to recover and fired back killing two terrorists," said an army officer. Out of ammunition, he tried to pick up the weapon of the killed terrorists but the third terrorist injured him before fleeing.
