Arnia town of RS Pura late Saturday night witnessed heavy shelling from across the International border by Pakistan rangers in which one woman lost her life while five others received splinter injuries.
In response the Indian side also retaliated strongly till wee hours of Sunday. The firing, from both the sides was stopped around 6.00 am.
In the initial round of firing Pak rangers targeted several Border outposts across Arnia sub sector but later shifted gears by targeting densely populated civilian areas.
As mortar shells started landing in the area close to Arnia bus stand panic stricken residents ran for cover.
Several houses in the area suffered huge damages as their roof tops and side walls were punctured by the 81 mm mortars.
The senior citizens and children faced hardships as they could not sleep inside their homes and spent the night by staying awake.
Due to complete darkness in the area the local residents struggled to find their way while escaping the fury of Pak shelling. In some of the villages the local residents had shifted their families and valuables to safer places in order to escape the intense shelling by Pakistan rangers. According to police, three civilians including a minor received splinter injuries as mortar shell blasted in their house in ward no 4 and 5 of Arnia.
The injured were identified as Maya Devi, Rajni Kumari and her son Shubham. Critically injured Maya Devi was rushed to the Government Medical College hospital around midnight while three other injured were shifted in the wee hours. One of the woman identified as Ratno Devi succumbed due to fatal splinter injuries early morning. Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh visited medical college hospital to meet injured border residents.
Earlier, one BSF jawan was martyred on Saturday while BSF is claimed to have killed two Pak rangers in strong retaliatory action.
The State Govt sunday rushed senior officers of the Revenue department to take stock of loss of properties and live stock in order to expedite compensation claims of affected border residents.
The livestock has silently suffered maximum brunt of indiscriminate firing in the area, official sources said.
The businessmen and local farmers,waiting to reap rich harvest, are a worried lot as they are anticipating more trouble during the peak festive season.
According to BSF spokesman of Jammu frontier, “Pak rangers have so far targeted 8-10 BOP’s across Arnia sub-sector.
The spokesman said BSF jawans are fully alert and prepared to retaliate strongly to silence Pak guns.
The spokesman said the local police authorities have been issued advisory on how to handle and evacuate local population from forward areas in the event of further flare up of tensions. The State Government too has ordered identification of shelter points to accommodate displaced border residents.