Lieutenant Colonel MS Dhoni arrives in Srinagar to join Indian Army battalion in Jammu and Kashmir

MS Dhoni arrives in Srinagar; Lieutenant Colonel to perform duties for his battalion armed with AK 47

New Delhi, July 31: Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday (July 30) arrived in Srinagar to join the 106 Territorial Army Battalion (Para) in Jammu and Kashmir and perform the patrolling duties with the troops in the valley.

The 38-year-old, who is an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army, will be working with the Army for a period of 15-days with the Victor Force, which engages in tackling militant groups in the valley.

Dhoni made himself unavailable for Team India's upcoming tour of West Indies and urged the Army Chief to permit him to serve with his regiment.

The Indian Army conveyed a message last week that Dhoni will proceed to the valley to join the battalion from July 31 to August 15. He'll be taking duties of patrolling, guard and post duty and will be staying with troops.

Dhoni was snapped at the Delhi airport and later images of the former India captain sitting on the flight to Srinagar also emerged on the social media.

MS Dhoni to patrol with team

Dhoni will stay with the Indian Army Unit named Victor Force. He'll be taking duties of patrolling, guard and post duty and will be staying with troops.

Images on the social media are going viral in which Dhoni could be seen on the flight to Srinagar.

Dhoni will be armed with AK 47

An army officer was quoted by The New Indian Express report as saying, "Dhoni's 15-day duty period (till August 15) with his unit 106 TA Battalion (Para) begins today."

"Dhoni will be with the unit for seven days during which he will be carrying out his assigned duties. During the deployment he will be like any other officer and he will be given his own personal weapon (AK-47) with three loaded magazines," the sources said.

In 2015, he became a qualified paratrooper after having completed five parachute training jumps from Indian Army aircrafts in the Agra training camp.

'Dhoni will protect the civilians'

Earlier, when Army Chief General Bipin Rawat was asked if the cricketer would be given any security in the valley, the Army Chief stressed that Dhoni will be protecting the civilians.

The Army Chief, was quoted by NDTV as saying, "When a citizen of India wants to don the military uniform then he has to also be prepared to fulfill the task for which the uniform has been assigned to him. MS Dhoni has carried out his basic training and we know that he will be able to accomplish the task."

"In fact, he will be protecting a lot of other people because he will now be performing with the 106 Territorial Army battalion (Para). It is a very good battalion and they have been performing line of communication duties, static protection and he will be a part of it," he said. "I don't think we will need to protect him, he will protect the citizens and garrison entrusted to his task," the Army Chief said.