BSF man killed in sniper fire by Pak Rangers in Samba

A day after Union home minister Rajnath Singh launched two smart fencing projects along the 198-km-long India-Pakistan international border in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Rangers killed a Border Security Force (BSF) man in Ramgarh subsector of Samba district.

The body of head constablerank BSF man, who went missing on Tuesday morning, is suspected to have been hit by a fatal sniper shot from across the border when troops were clearing the tall “sarkanda” grass ahead of their border post in the RS Pura area.

“Around 10.40am, unprovoked firing was started by Pakistan in the Ramgarh Sector. A BSF party, which was on domination patrolling ahead of the fence, was targeted,” a BSF spokesman said, adding that BSF troops immediately took position and retaliated, but the enemy bullets hit the BSF head constable.

“The area on Pakistan side has a protective embankment close to the international border. Areas on our side is undulated, marshy and having thick wild grass growth. It made the immediate locating of the injured jawan difficult,” he said. Action on clearing the area of possible IEDs, booby traps etc is being taken up by the BSF, he said.

Soon after the incident, senior BSF officers, including inspector general Ram Awtar, rushed to the site to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, Indian and Pakistani troops traded heavy fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Gulpur area of Poonch district on Tuesday.

Pakistan army initiated indiscriminate firing of both small and heavy arms from 1am, which lasted over couple of hours, police said, adding this was retaliated by the Indian side strongly.