Border residents stage protest, block Jammu road

JAMMU: Angry border villagers on Friday blocked RS Pura Road and placed bodies of a couple, which died in Pak shelling at Chandu Chak village in RS Pura sector of Jammu district.

Infuriated over non-availability of ambulances, locals alleged that the administration failed to rescue villagers injured in the shelling.

“We shifted the dead and injured in tractor trolleys. Where is the administration,” Bhushan Kumar of Chandu Chak confronted media persons at RS Pura. The locals also raised slogans against the PDP-BJP government, and accused it of “sheer indifference” to border residents.

6 SHELTER CAMPS SET UP

Following intense shelling, the state government on Friday set up six shelter camps in safer areas of Bishnah and RS Pura towns. “Veterinary teams have also been activated,” said deputy commissioner of Jammu, Arun Manhas. He said the administration has been tasked to identify places for setting up more temporary shelters.

“We are also assessing the losses incurred by the people in Friday’s shelling,” he said, adding that the schools within 4km radius of the border from the zero line have also been shut as a precautionary measure.

BSF BIDS ADIEU TO JAWAN KILLED IN PAK FIRING

The BSF on Friday bade adieu to slain BSF constable Sita Ram Upadhaya at its headquarters in Paloura here. The 27-year-old border guard hailed from Jharkhand. At the wreath laying ceremony, tributes were paid to the border guard at war memorial.

“This brave act has once again proved that bordermen are always ready to sacrifice their life when it comes to the security and integrity of the nation,” said IG BSF. The cremation of the border guard will be performed at his native Pal Ganj village in Giridih district of Jharkhand on Saturday.