SRI NAGAR: A Border Security Force officer was injured when a shell fired by Pakistani Rangers exploded near him during ceasefire violations on Tuesday night along the International Border (IB) in Jammu. A BSF spokesman told Express that Pakistani troops fired mortar shells towards their posts in Arnia, R S Pura and Akhnoor sector along IB in Jammu district. He said the firing started last evening and continued till 8.30 am.
BSF Assistant Sub Inspector A K Upadhayay sustained minor injuries when a shell exploded near him in RS Pura sector. “He sustained splinter injures in the hand and has been hospitalized,” the spokesman said.
“In the past 24 hours, 10 civilians including seven women members of one family have been injured due to the ceasefire violations in R S Pura sector. The injured are undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu.
Several villages along the IB in the R S Pura sector wear a deserted look as the residents after spending two nights of horror decided to migrate to safer places after Pakistan violated the ceasefire, targeting the civilian population. As one enters the border villages, locked doors can be seen and an eerie silence prevails that is punctuated by the sporadic noise of bullets or mortar bombs.
“We spent the past two nights in horror, when bombs fired from the Pakistani side landed on our houses and in our front yards. We thought that it might pass away, but today (Wednesday) we decided to move out and shift to a safer place,” Bhushan Kumar, a resident of Korotana Khurd village, said. “While a majority of the villagers have left for safer locations, one or two men have stayed back in every village so as to provide fodder to the cattle. We are risking our lives to feed our cattle,” a resident of Budhipur village said.(With PTI Inputs)