BSF trooper killed in shelling; soldier dies as Army foils infiltration bid

Amir Tantray and Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Jammu/ Srinagar, October 27

A Border Security Force jawan was killed and six civilians were injured in heavy cross-border shelling in Jammu while a soldier was killed and another was injured when the Army thwarted an infiltration attempt in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Thursday. 

Pakistani troops shelled over 15 BOPs and 29 hamlets with mortar bombs and fired heavily from automatic weapons overnight in RS Pura and Arnia sectors along the International Border in Jammu district.

BSF troops guarding the border retaliated to the Pakistani firing.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The BSF jawan was identified as head constable Jitender kumar, who hailed from Raxaul village in Motihari district of Bihar. He was injured in Abdulian area of RS Pura and succumbed to injuries on his way to hospital.

“There was heavy firing and mortar shelling on BOPs and villages along the IB in RS Pura and Arnia sectors of Jammu district overnight and continued till Thursday morning,” a police officer said.

Pakistani Army also resorted to unprovoked truce violation in Krishna Ghat sector in Poonch on LoC later on Thursday evening.

Pakistani troops pounded over 20 civilian hamlets along the IB in Arnia and RS Pura overnight, he said. Over 15 BOPs were also targeted.

In the shelling, six civilians were injured in Khopra Basti belt in RS Pura on Thursday morning, he said, adding that the injured had been evacuated to hospital for treatment.

Pakistani posts started firing heavy mortars towards the Indian side at 8.35 pm, a BSF officer said.

“Heavy mortar shells were fired towards Arnia on Wednesday night,” Jammu Deputy Commissioner Simrandeep Singh said.

On Wednesday, an officer of the Border Security Force was injured when a shell fired by Pakistani Rangers exploded near him in RS Pura sector.

As many as 16 people, mostly women, have been injured in the cross border firing in the RS Pura sector in the past two days.

BSF Assistant Sub-Inspector AK Upadhayay was injured when a shell exploded near him in RS Pura sector. He received splinter injures in his hand.

Eight civilians were injured in shelling in RS Pura and Arnia on October 25.

Singh said the government had issued an advisory and all educational institutes near the border had been closed in the wake of the firing from across the border.

People have been migrating to safer locations.

“In the wake of the heavy firing, border residents are migrating to safer locations. Whenever there is lull, they leave their houses to shift to either safe camps or to their relatives’ houses at safer locations,” Singh said.

A six-year-old boy and a BSF jawan were killed in the cross-border shelling in RS Pura sector on October 24.

Over 55 ceasefire violations have taken place since the surgical strikes carried out by the Army on terror launch pads in PoK, in which four people, including three security personnel, have died and over 25 injured. 

Infiltration foiled  

A soldier was killed and another was injured as the army foiled an infiltration attempt in Kupwara's Tangdhar sector — some 140 km from Srinagar — on Thursday.

The Army said that soldiers manning the Line of Control intercepted a group of militants trying to infiltrate into Kashmir.

 “As the group was challenged, a gunfight erupted.  In ensuing gunfight, one soldier was martyred and another was injured and evacuated,” an Army officer said. “ The gunfight continues in the area.”

The identity of the soldier could not be established immediately. 

The latest infiltration bid was foiled at a time when there is an escalation of cross border shelling in Jammu region. In last one week, three BSF jawans and a civilian were killed and scores were injured in the border shelling.  

Defence sources said that militants from across are making desperate attempts to sneak into the Valley before snow closes off mountain passes in the region along the LoC for the next 5-6 months. 

This year this has been a spike in the infiltration from across. The Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) figures have revealed that 87 militants have infiltrated into Kashmir from across this year till ending September. Last year the 33 militants had managed to infiltrate. (With inputs from PTI)