Officer among four BSF men killed as Pak opens heavy fire

YET AGAIN The latest attack comes barely a week after troops agreed to obey IndoPak ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit

JAMMU: An officer and three personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) were killed and three others were severely injured in firing by Pakistan Rangers across the international border in another ceasefire violation near the famous Chamliyal shrine in Ramgarh sub-sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district late on Tuesday.

“They first fired two mortars that landed on our party followed by firing. It happened around 9.45 pm on Tuesday night. We have retaliated and other action is in the pipeline,” said BSF Jammu frontier inspector general Ram Awtar. “Four BSF men have made supreme sacrifices in the line of duty,” he said.

The BSF men killed in the attack were identified as assistant commandant Jitender Singh, sub inspector Rajneesh Kumar, assistant sub inspector Ramniwas and constable Hansraj Gurjar.

The injured were hospitalised.

Pakistan Rangers first subjected a patrol team to cross border firing in which a few BSF men were injured, BSF officers said. When a team was sent to evacuate the injured men, the Rangers fired mortars on the rescuers.

All the four men who died belonged to 62 battalion of the BSF that manned the Chamliyal shrine. Every year, on the last Thursday of June, a three-day fair is held at the shrine of Baba Dalip Singh Manhas, also known as Baba Chamliyal, on either side of the border. Pakistan Rangers usually offer a chaddar (a large cloth) and sweets on behalf of the people of Pakistan; BSF men in turn give them shakkar (holy soil) and sherbet from the shrine which many believe cures skin related ailments.

The latest Pakistani attack comes barely a week after a sector commander level flag meeting at the Octroi post in RS Pura sector of Jammu district.

At the meeting, brigadier Amjad Hussain of the Chenab Rangers had promised to uphold the sanctity of the November 2003 Indo-Pak ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit.

Prior to it, the Pakistani director general of military operations called up his Indian counterpart to stop retaliatory firing by the BSF and restore peace along the volatile border.

With the death of the four BSF men, Pakistan Rangers have killed 19 people and injured 67, besides displacing over 100,000 people from the border areas of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts since May 15. So far this year, 52 people, including 26 security personnel, have been killed on the Line of Control and the international border in the Jammu region.

“A rogue country like Pakistan will never mend its ways. We have to remain alert 24x7 on the borders,” a BSF officer said on condition of anonymity. Full identities of the BSF men Jitendra Singh, assistant commandant, born 1984, hailed from Jaipur, Rajasthan; joined BSF in 2011;

Rajneesh Kumar, sub-inspector, born 1986, hailed from Etah, Uttar Pradesh; joined BSF in 2012.

Ramniwas, assistant sub-inspector, born 1966, hailed from Sikar, Rajasthan; joined BSF in 1988.

Constable Hansraj Gurjar, born 1990, hailed from Alwar, Rajasthan; joined BSF in 2011.