Lt Gen Rajendra Nimborkar receiving the Senior Bajirao Peshwe Shourya Puraskar from former CM Manohar Joshi

PUNE: The Indian Army troops used leopard’s urine and faeces to throw off dogs while carrying out surgical strikes, 15km inside Pakistan territory in 2016, former Nagrota Corps commander Lt Gen Rajendra Nimborkar said on Tuesday.

The city-based Thorle Bajirao Peshwe Pratishthan awarded Nimborkar for his contribution to the strikes. The award was given away by former chief minister Manohar Joshi who was chief guest.

Nimborkar, who served as brigade commander in Nowshera sector, had studied the biodiversity of the area minutely. “While in the sector, we had experienced that leopards often attack dogs in the areas. To save themselves from the attack, dogs prefer to stay in the locality during night,” Nimborkar told TOI.

“While devising the operational strategy, we were aware about possible dogs barking and attacking while crossing villages on the route. To counter it, our troops carried leopards’ urine and faeces. They used to spray it outside the village. This worked well and the dogs left them alone,” he said.

Nimborkar said the Army had maintained highest secrecy. “Then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had told us to execute the operation in a week. I had discussed this with our troops a week in advance but didn’t reveal the exact location. They came to know about it a day prior to the attack,” he said.

To execute the operation, Lt Gen Nimborkar said, we had chosen early morning. “We had identified the terrorists’ launch pads. We had studied their timings and got to know that 3.30am was perfect to attack. Before that, our troops had to reach a safe location. They had successfully crossed difficult terrains and mine fields. They destroyed three pads and killed 29 terrorists,” he said.

Post operation, Nimborkar said the surprise factor had stunned the Pakistan army’s military leaders.