Neha Bhandari, lone BSF officer who commanded border outpost along IB during Operation Sindoor

Commanding a border outpost within eyeball-to-eyeball contact of a Pakistani post along the International Border, Assistant Commandant Neha Bhandari led her troops to silence three forward hostile posts across the zero line (area closest to enemy territory) by giving a befitting reply.

Apart from Neha, six women constables held a gun position on a forward border post, with their ‘josh’ rising with every bullet they fired at enemy positions across the IB in Samba-R S Pura-Akhnoor sectors.

Neha, a third-generation officer from her family in Uttarakhand, takes pride in being part of the BSF and commanding a border outpost in the Pargwal forward area of the Akhnoor sector in the Jammu district during Operation Sindoor.

“I feel proud to be manning a post along the International Border with my troops. It is approximately 150 meters away from the Pakistani post in the Akhnoor-Pargwal area," Neha told PTI here.

Her feelings are vivid as she confidently says that commanding the post during Operation Sindoor was an honour for her. “It was an honour to serve at the forward post and give a befitting reply with all available weapons from my post to enemy posts," she added.

Giving details of how she silenced three hostile posts resorting to unprovoked firing on her position during Operation Sindoor, she said, “I had three posts falling in my area. I pinned down the people at all three hostile locations. We hit them with every weapon we had. They were forced to flee their posts."  The posts were decimated to ensure they were silenced, she said, adding that her troops performed their best during retaliation.

Expressing the high morale among the troops manning the post, she said, “The ‘josh’ was quite high. Everyone among us gave their best, because everything we did was for the country and its honour."  Neha’s grandfather served in the Army, and her parents are from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), making her a third-generation officer in the family. “My grandfather served in the Army. My father was in the CRPF. My mother is in the CRPF. I am a third-generation officer in the force," she said.

She maintained that women did not lag behind, as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts to give Pakistan a befitting reply during the three-day-long skirmishes.

“I had 18 to 19 women border guards with me. To be precise, six women were engaged in direct firing at observation post locations. We are proud of them," said Neha, who was the lone BSF woman officer to command a forward post along the IB in Jammu frontier during the operation.

Praising the role of women in combat at forward posts and their engagement in firing on Pakistani posts, Inspector General of BSF Shashank Anand said, “BSF women personnel played an outstanding role in this operation. Although they had the option to move to the battalion headquarters, they chose to stay at forward posts with their male counterparts and responded strongly to Pakistan."  Anand said that BSF women personnel, including Assistant Commandant Neha Bhandari, had shown exemplary courage by manning forward posts and engaging enemy positions near the IB. “Women BSF soldiers played a crucial role in this operation and stood at the front lines to protect the country’s sovereignty and borders," he said.

Constable Shankari Das, who too manned a gun position on a forward post, said, “We have our duties. Just as we are deployed at the border, we carry out our tasks as usual. Our senior commanders briefed us on the situation and warned that firing might take place. We were instructed to respond to fire with fire. So, as soon as firing started, we responded with fire," she said.

Similarly, constables Swapna Rath, Anita, Sumi, Milkeet Kour, and Manjeet Kour were manning gun positions at various posts, like their male counterparts, and giving a befitting reply to Pakistani troops. “We feel proud to man gun positions and retaliate. It was an honour for us," Manjeet Kour said.

The BSF has hit back at 76 Pakistani border outposts and 42 forward defence locations (FDLs), and destroyed three terrorist launch pads among several other posts, in a strong retaliation to unprovoked firing and shelling by Pakistani Rangers along the IB in the Jammu frontier under Operation Sindoor. They damaged 70 forward Pakistani posts.

The BSF action came after Pakistan launched heavy shelling on 60 Indian posts and 49 forward positions, providing cover for an attempted infiltration by 40–50 terrorists, officials said.

J & K