Operation Rajiv
[2] Alongside the higher-altitude installations, India has also established posts on the slopes at lower heights (named Amar and Sonam) in this sector.An Indian task force, led by Major Varinder Singh, launched multiple attacks on the Pakistani troops stationed at the post in an attempt to capture it.The operation was named after Second Lieutenant Rajiv Pande, who had been killed during earlier attempts by India to capture the peak from Pakistan.[3] The Quaid Post was manned by soldiers of the Shaheen Company (3rd commando battalion), a part of Pakistan's Special Services Group.There were also frequent blizzards, and taking advantage of poor visibility at night was difficult due to the wind chill factor.[3] In November 1986, Quaid Post was hit by a deadly blizzard which killed all of the Pakistani garrison commanded by Captain Akmal Khan except one artillery officer, Lt Zafar Abbasi who was lieutenant at that who lost his both legs and hands due to frostbite.The other soldiers, who were from a Special Services group, including Captain Akmal Khan, died on the spot as the temperature hit −40.On May 29, a 13-member JAK LI patrol led by Second Lieutenant Rajiv Pande was asked to identify the best approach route to the Post, and mark it with ropes.The Pakistanis opened fire with a heavy machine gun, killing ten Indian soldiers, including Second Lieutenant Rajiv Pande.[5] Before they were killed, the Indian soldiers managed to establish a number of footholds on the vertical ice wall with a pick axe, and had laid a rope to the top.[1] The operation was named after India's Second Lieutenant Rajiv Pande, who had been killed by Pakistanis during an earlier attempt to capture the peak.[6] Over the next few days, the JAK LI assembled a new task force led by Major Varinder Singh to capture the Quaid Post.[3] On the night of 25–26 June, Subedar Sansar Chand's team led the attack on the Quaid Post, with the remainder of the force following at a distance.[1] The brigade commander Brigadier Chandan Nugyal contacted Varinder over radio, and promised him fire support from every Indian artillery gun in the range.[1] Beside Bana Singh, the group included Riflemen Chuni Lal, Laxman Das, Om Raj and Kashmir Chand.In her book, Defeat Is an Orphan: How Pakistan Lost the Great South Asian War, Myra MacDonald wrote: Against all odds, India captured the post after an operation that involved scaling ice-walls by stealth followed by hand-to-hand fighting with grenades and bayonets at 20,500 feet.On top of the original occupation of Siachen in 1984, the loss of the Pakistani post in 1987 became an added humiliation that dug deeply into the psyche of the Pakistan Army.