INDIA, PAKISTAN EXCHANGE HEAVY MORTAR FIRE ON JAMMU BORDER
NEWDELHI/JAMMU: The BSF fired more than 9,000 rounds of mortar shells across the international border in Jam mu in the past four days as part of“pin pointed” retaliatory action against Pakistan’ s unprovoked firing, officials said on Monday.
The BSF said it destroyed firing positions, mortar launching pads and ammunition and fuel dump soft he Pakistan Rangers at several places in the firing.
The toll from Pakistani firing since Wednesday went up to 12, with one more death reported on Sunday. This is more than the total number of people killed in the border region by Pakistani shellingin2017. Thedeadinclude two BSF men, three army soldiers and seven civilians.
RS PURA/ARNIA/SAI KHURD: People huddled around Shakandhya Devi at a relief camp in RS Pura town let her cry aloud when an urn containing the ashes of her husband’s mortal remains were shown to the woman on Monday.
She and daughter Shilpi have been weeping intermittently, since a Pakistani shell exploded near Ghar Sing hint he crop fields of their village, Bera, close to the border on Saturday.
Marginal farmer Singh had gone to the fields to rescue the family cow from the mortar shells. Splinters from one such deadly munition cut him down.
The father of three sons and a daughter was cremated by Saturday afternoon and the family left for RS Pura town to escape the relentless Pakistani firing.
The sole breadwinner of the family was among a dozen people, including soldiers, killed in the shelling since Thursday.
Singh’s eldest son Rakesh lit the pyre on Saturday, with mortar shells and bullets flying overhead. “Our father died for the country. This government provides jobs to stone pelter sand kin of terrorists. Can’t any of us get a government job to sustain our family?” asked the jobless man. He continued in a trembling voice :“We are marginal farmers; we do farming for others. Can ₹1 lakh compensate a human life?”
Nearly 15km from the camp, another family mourned the death of a beloved mother — 50-year-old Bachno Devi of Sai Khurd village in Arnia. Bachno had opened the door of her house hearing husband Jeet Raj screaming in agony. He was hit by as hell in the veranda hon Friday morning. But as his wife opened the door, a shell exploded near her. She was killed instantly. “Shrapnel hit my mother’ s neck ,” said Dev i’ s son Ravi Kumar, who was wounded too. The family with a small land holding has three daughters and two sons. Eldest son Babu Ram, 21, and Ravi Kumar have passed their Class 10 finals, but are jobless. “We pray to the government to provide us a government job,” Babu Ram said. HTC