New Delhi : Hours after India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, destroying nine terror camps, Pakistan targeted the Uri hydroelectric power projects in Jammu and Kashmir. However, a small band of CISF personnel turned a looming catastrophe into a story of grit. The incident came to light after 19 personnel of the CISF, which provides security cover to the Uri Hydro Electric Power Projects (UHEP-I and II) along the LoC, were awarded the Director General’s disc for shielding critical national infrastructure and saving the lives of 250 civilians by displaying “exemplary” courage.
The CISF personnel at the Uri plant were put on high aler and directed to switch off the lights. Hours later, Pakistan retaliated with intense and indiscriminate shelling across the LoC. Pakistan also launched a barrage of drones. The key target was the Uri hydro plant, located on the River Jhelum in Baramulla district. The plant is located right along the Line of Control. Not only the plant, but also the nearby civilian populations were under threat. The 19-member CISF team, led by Commandant Ravi Yadav, was undeterred. Not only did the personnel neutralise the drones, but they also undertook a massive evacuation operation.
Our personnel jammed and shot down enemy drones near the main entrance of Uri II project. The larger drones were neutralised by our sister agencies. None of their drones inflicted damage at the plant,” ASI Gurjeet Singh, who was among those awarded, told Hindustan Times. As shells fired by Pakistan struck nearby residential complexes, the CISF personnel conducted door-to-door evacuation of 250 civilians as well as staff of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). In all, there were zero casualties.
The CISF, in a statement, said the officers carried out a real-time threat analysis, reinforced bunkers, maintained critical communications, and neutralised hostile drones. Amid intense cross-border shelling, CISF teams at Uri Hydro Electric Projects displayed extraordinary courage, safeguarding vital national assets and evacuating 250 civilians to safety despite the high risk to their own lives,” the statement further said. Nine days later, the Army, under the cover of darkness, crossed the LoC and destroyed terror launchpads in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK). Over 100 terrorists were believed to have been killed.
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