Pak resorts to heavy shelling on posts, villages along border
JAMMU: Pakistani Rangers pounded border hamlets and outposts along the International Border in RS Pura sector of Jammu district and in Tarkundi area along the Line of Control (LoC) of Rajouri district on Friday night.
The IG said the areas, which came under fire along the IB include Karotana Khurd and Abdullian. “We have asked the authorities to ensure safety of the people as firing and shelling exchanges have increased. We do not want civilians to suffer”, the IG said. He said Pakistani Rangers tried to snipe at a jawan on an Observation tower but he jumped from it.
“Apart from firing, Pakistani Rangers fired 60 and 81 mm mortar bomb shells intermittently from 11pm and it continued till early Saturday morning in Bidipur and Karotana in Suchetgarh sub-sector,” deputy commissioner Jammu Simrandeep Singh said. Jammu DC added that people have been advised to stay indoors during the day time. “Officers have been told to close all the schools in villages which are vulnerable as a precautionary measure”, he said. As many as 50 to 80 schools in these border areas have been directed to be shut by the district administration as a precautionary measure, DC said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan army opened heavy fire on Indian posts and villagers in Tarkundi area of Rajouri district.
EVACUATION IN KATHUA
Bullet-proof vehicles were pressed into service to evacuate over 400 people rattled by the sound of Pakistani mortar bombing and firing in border areas. “Due to heavy firing and shelling for two days and the fear psychosis among the border residents, we pressed into service bullet proof vehicles to evacuate them”, Kathua deputy commissioner Ramesh Kumar said.
“Around 400 villagers have been shifted to two relief camps. At the same time, an advisory has also been issued to the villagers to stay indoors,” he said.
Samba deputy commissioner Sheetal Nanda said there was no firing in Samba district but an advisory has been issued to the villagers advising them not to venture out during night.
FARMERS MOURN LOSS OF LIVESTOCK
As he sits near the carcasses of his cattle, an inconsolable 60-year-old Krishan Lal says he doesn’t know how he will survive after losing his “earning sons” in the heavy firing by Pakistani troops in RS Pura sector. “For you these are only animals, but for me they were like earning sons. I used to sell their milk for my livelihood. This is the biggest loss of my life,” said Lal in his Kortana Khurd border village.
Lal, a farmer by profession, lost three buffaloes and a cow after a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan Rangers late Friday night exploded near his cowshed. “Though there was no loss of human life, but four cattle were killed and two injured in the firing,” DC Jammu Simrandeep Singh said.
We were busy in harvesting when Pakistani firing forced us to abandon fields. Even stepping outside the house is dangerous.