A Pakistani helicopter on Sunday violated Indian air space along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector prompting Indian Air force to launch small arm fire and ‘air sorties’ to timely check the intrusion.
The air space violation was reported after Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had launched a scathing attack against Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly session (UNGA) in New York for harbouring terrorists on its territory and not taking any action against the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror strike.
According to Pakistan media reports, POK ‘Prime Minister’ Raja Farooq Haider Khan was seated in the front seat of the chopper. He was reportedly travelling to Tarori near the LoC to condole the death of an activist of his party.
Ground reports said soon after the Pakistani helicopter violated the Indian air space in forward area of Gulpur in Poonch ‘air sentries’ at a forward location engaged it with small arms forcing it to retreat.
Ministry of Defence spokesperson in Jammu, Lt-Col Devendra Anand, issued a statement which he said, “The air space violation by the Pakistan helicopter was reported in Poonch sector at about 12.10 pm on Sunday.”
Official sources, however, claimed it was most likely a civil chopper and was flying very high. “It was also fired upon by the Indian troops but it managed to retreat inside the Pakistani territory,” they said.
As per the bilateral agreement inked in 1991 between India and Pakistan a rotary wing aircraft cannot fly within 1 km, fixed wing aircraft (fighters, bombers and reconnaissance planes) within 10 km of each others airspace.
Following this incident high alert was sounded all along the LoC to prevent any further breach of barbed wire fence to push heavily armed infiltrators inside the Indian territory.