5 killed, 90,000 displaced along IB

Amit Khajuria & 

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Arnia (IB), May 23

Tension escalated along the entire 198-km International Border (IB) — from Paharpur to Akhnoor — on Wednesday as five villagers were killed and 40, including three BSF personnel, injured in fresh shelling 

by Pakistan troops from across the border.

It was the sixth consecutive day of heavy shelling in three districts of Jammu region. The targeting of civilian areas by Pakistan Rangers has forced  90,000 border residents to flee homes and take shelter in relief camps and other  places. More than 100 border villages have been affected.

While 80 Border Security Force (BSF) posts have been targeted, officers claimed they were giving a “befitting reply” to the unprovoked shelling. Reports suggest Pakistan Rangers are being assisted by its army to target civilian areas on the Indian side.

The slain civilians have been identified as Krishna Kumar (9) of Bain and Shamo Devi (50) of Glair villages in Samba sector; Ram Pal (50) of Londi village in Kathua’s Hiranagar; and Raghubir Singh (50) and Bhajan Singh of Shamka village in RS Pura.

Official figures suggest since May 17, as many as 75 houses have been damaged, 31 livestock killed and 97 persons hurt in cross-border firing. Officials say an estimated 90,000 people have migrated to homes of relatives, while 2,480 have taken shelter in Jammu camps —625 in Samba and 250 

in Kathua.

“At least 55 villages on the border in Samba district have been affected. We are urging people to leave their homes but some are unwilling because of their livestock. Most have shifted to camps or homes of their relatives,” said Samba DC Rajinder Singh.

“We have set up five camps at different locations where 625 persons have taken shelter. Bunker vehicles have been given to tehsildars and board and lodging facilities are being provided to people at the camps,” he said. Kathua DC Rohit Khajuria said 250 affected civilians were putting up in three of the five camps set up by the administration.

Expressing concern over the situation, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called for immediate cessation of hostilities to safeguard the lives and properties of the people. 

She called for a ceasefire on the border on the lines of the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Central Government in the state, saying the “onus is also on Pakistan to respond positively” in the larger interest of peace and stability in the region.

The state has witnessed a spurt in Pakistan shelling and firing along the IB and the Line of Control (LoC) with over 700 such incidents reported so far this year, leaving 40 persons —among them 18 security personnel — dead and scores injured.

10 hurt in grenade attack

Ten civilians, including three women, were injured in a grenade attack at Bijbehara in Kashmir valley on Thursday. 

Police reports said the explosion took place at 11.50 am. The grenade missed a security vehicle and exploded on the roadside, injuring 10 civilians. 

Major Gogoi courts controversy again

Srinagar: Major Leetul Gogoi, who had last year created a stir after he tied Farooq Ahmed Dar, a Kashmiri youth from Budgam, to his jeep to escape a stone-pelting mob, has courted yet another controversy. The officer, awarded the Chief of Army Staff’s Commendation (COAS) for sustained counter-insurgency operations, was on Wednesday detained by the police along with a local Kashmiri girl from a hotel here. Major Gogoi, who booked a room online on Wednesday, arrived in a car in the morning. The hotel staff reportedly objected to a Kashmiri girl checking in with him, leading to a scuffle. The police, who recorded the Major’s statement before handing him over to his unit, are looking into the matter. While the police claim the girl had gone to the hotel to meet the officer, the hotel owner says they had objected to a local girl checking in as they “did not give room to the locals”. TNS