Punjab jawan killed, 4 injured in Pak firing on LoC in Rajouri district

JAMMU:An Army jawan was killed and four others were injured when Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire for the second day on Monday, resorting to heavy mortar shelling and firing along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, officials said.

Rifleman Karamjeet Singh.

Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 18

An Army jawan was killed and four others were injured when Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire for the second day on Monday, resorting to heavy mortar shelling and firing along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, officials said.

The Pakistan army initiated unprovoked firing around 5.30 am, targeting the LoC area in Sunderbani sector with mortar bombs and small arms, a defence spokesperson said. The Army retaliated effectively, he added.

The spokesperson said Rifleman Karamjeet Singh (24) was critically injured in the firing and succumbed while being shifted to Jammu for treatment.

Hailing from Janer village in Dharamkot tehsil of Moga, Karamjeet is survived by his mother Kulwant Kaur. Born on November 15, 1994, he had joined the Army on June 28, 2015. “In Karamjeet Singh, the nation has lost a brave and sincere soldier. The nation will remain indebted to him for his sacrifice,” said the spokesperson.

His mortal remains would be sent to his native village on Tuesday after a wreath-laying ceremony in Akhnoor.

The condition of the four other soldiers, undergoing treatment at a military hospital, was stated to be stable.

The Pakistan army had violated the ceasefire in the same sector on Sunday evening, which stopped following effective retaliation from the Indian side.

The border skirmishes witnessed a spurt after India’s airstrike on a Jaish terror camp in Balakot on February 26 in response to the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.

The year 2018 witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations — numbering 2,936 — by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the India-Pakistan border.