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After cross-border firing along IB, uneasy calm prevails in Arnia, RS Pura sectors
Late on Thursday, BSF had retaliated after ‘unprovoked’ firing by Pakistan Rangers, shelling continued till 3am; a BSF jawan and a civilian were reported injured
After overnight skirmishes between Pakistan Rangers and the Border Security Force, an uneasy calm returned to the Arnia and RS Pura sectors in Jammu district along the international border (IB) on Friday.
On Friday, police team visited the affected villages and took stock of the damage. On Thursday, in “unprovoked firing by Pakistan Rangers” and retaliation by the BSF, the villages close to the IB had started moving to “safer places”.
Shelling and firing was reported in the area till 3 am on Friday. A BSF jawan and a civilian were injured in the firing.
“BSF remains vigilant and continues to monitor the developments closely while assessing the situation and remains alert to respond as necessary to ensure the safety and security of the border and its residents,” the BSF stated on micro-blogging platform ”X”, formerly Twitter.
Some villagers and migrant labourers, who have fled their homes and shanties on Thursday night following Pakistan’s intense firing and shelling on BSF posts and forward villages, returned to their homes on Friday, said a senior police official.
BSF said that Pakistan Rangers kept firing and shot mortars in Arnia sector till 3 am injuring one of its men.
“During night intervening of Thursday and Friday, Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing in Arnia area, which was responded by BSF troops. Rangers resorted to mortar shelling, which was countered by BSF with appropriate response,” a BSF spokesperson said in an official statement issued here.
He added that a BSF personnel sustained minor injuries in the firing and had been given medical aid.
Intelligence officials, however, had on Thursday evening said that two BSF men and a civilian were injured in Arnia. BSJ jawans Basavraj SR and Sher Singh, and civilian Rajni Bala, 38, of Ward 5, Arnia, were reported injured.
On Friday morning, police teams visited affected villages, including Bhulle Chak in RS Pura, where a Pakistani mortar exploded in the verandah of a house, completely damaging a kitchen. The house belonged to one Om Parkash. The walls bore the marks of the shrapnels of the mortar shells, telling tale of what unfolded on Thursday night. None of the family members were injured in the explosion.
Recounting the horror, Sai Khurd sarpanch Vijay Choudhary said, “Pakistan suddenly opened heavy fire after a hiatus of over two and a half years. We urge the government to construct bunkers for us.”
“We are apprehensive of another round of firing on Friday evening. If it happens, we would be compelled to migrate to safer areas,” he added.
Videos and an audio of a Pakistani officer, accessed by the HT, showed the impact of India’s retaliatory fire in forward areas of Pakistan. The Pakistan officer was being heard telling his colleague to take all precautionary measures in the wake of intense firing and mortar shelling by the BSF.
On Thursday around 8 pm, panic gripped villagers over a dozen villages along the IB in Arnia and RS Pura sectors after Pakistani Rangers opened “unprovoked firing”. The BSF has been put on a high alert along the 198 km IB.
Intelligence sources said that around 8 pm, Rangers targeted Vikram post of the BSF in Arnia sector. “
On October 21, BSF personnel had fired warning shots after a group of people escorted by Pakistani Rangers came close to the IB in Arnia sector. The suspicious elements had retreated to Pakistan.
On October 17, two BSF personnel were injured when Pakistani troops resorted to “unprovoked firing” in Arnia, the first major ceasefire violation along the IB in Jammu region. BSF had lodged a strong protest with Pakistani Rangers at commandant-level flag meeting last Thursday.
The two neighbouring countries had first inked the mutually brokered truce deal in November 2003.
India shares a 3,323-km border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 744km of the Line of Control fall in Jammu and Kashmir.
