Pakistani rangers capture soldier, efforts are on to secure safe release
Four jawans of Border Security Force (BSF) had a close shave when their patrolling boat developed a snag and the engine was shut down merely 400 meters short of International border with Pakistan in Akhnoor sector of Jammu frontier on Wednesday.
Three BSF jawans jumped to safety in time and swam back to the river bank but one of the jawans was not lucky enough to beat the gushing Chenab waters. He was swept away by the waters of the Chenab to Pakistan. He was reportedly captured by the local residents and later taken in to preventive custody by the Pakistani rangers.
The BSF jawan, hailing from Ferozabad area of Uttar Pradesh, has been identified as Satya Sheel Yadav of 33 Batallion. Till the time of filing the report, high level efforts were on to secure safe release of BSF jawan from the custody of Pak rangers.
According to BSF sources, “A flag meeting was also convened to ensure safe passage of the BSF jawan swept away by the waters of Chenab river to Pakistan”.
A senior officer of the BSF Jammu frontier told The Pioneer, “officers at the highest level are in touch with their Pakistani counterparts and an assurance has been given to them but we are still awaiting confirmation at the ground level”.
According to BSF sources, the incident occurred around 11 am when four BSF jawans were patrolling in the boat near the Chenab post, last post of the Jammu frontier along the IB.
According to the sources, as the patrolling boat developed a technical snag meters away from the International border the engine of the boat was shut down and it started flowing with the current towards the Pakistani territory.
The International border was barely 400 meters away from the incident site. Sensing trouble three of the BSF jawan jumped to safety and returned safely to the Chenab post while the fourth jawan failed to beat the fast flowing river and was swept away to Pakistan.