Seven women and a minor girl were among 11 people hurt in heavy cross-border shelling by Pakistan in Suchetgarh Village of RS Pura sector on Tuesday.
However, giving a befitting response to the unprovoked use of mortar shells on civilian areas, the Border Security Force is learnt to have caused maximum damage to at least five to six border outposts of Pakistan Rangers on Tuesday.
Senior BSF officers at Jammu frontier, who are closely monitoring the prevailing situation on the border, said that Pakistan Rangers suffered heavy damages due to the strong retaliation by the BSF jawans.
Seven members of a family, including a minor girl, were caught off guard as they were about to step out of their house located close to the International Border when a Pakistani mortar shell landed in their courtyard injuring them.
All of them, who had been preparing to attend a wedding, received splinter injuries on their legs, chest and arms as they were all standing in the courtyard.
The villagers evacuated the injured women and the child to RS Pura Hospital from where six of them were shifted to Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu.
The villagers have been forced by circumstances to stay put in their houses despite continuous exchange of cross-border firing in the area. “We cannot run away leaving behind our crops”, said Subash Chaudhary.
Mortar shell landed inside his house where these women were injured.
Another woman was injured in Chanduchak area of RS Pura. In Bidipur village, a shell landed in the house of a local farmer destroying his car and injuring two people. large number of live stock and properties of local villagers suffered heavy damages as mortar shells were raining during the day time.
A farmer identified as Ram lal was injured and also suffered heavy damages as four of his cattle perished after they were hit by splinters of 82 mm mortar in Floora village of RS Pura sector.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed along the International Border of Jammu frontier as Pak Rangers pounded several other forward villages of RS Pura Sector using 82 mm mortars and also used lMG and MMG fire to target the civilian houses.
According to official sources local residents from at least 40 villages shifted to safer locations fearing fresh escalation of tension along the IB.
Majority of schools and other educational institutions remained closed due to prevailing tension in the area. The local markets also wore deserted look as majority of rural population in the area has been adversely affected by the frequent shelling by Pak rangers.
The local police and other government agencies advised people to either stay put in bunkers or safer locations in and around their villages or directed them to shift to community shelters set up by the state govt.
Till last reports came in Pak Rangers were using small arms and mortar shells to target the civilian areas across Jammu frontier.
Pakistan Army also violated ceasefire agreement along the line of control in Nowshera sector of Rajori. The firing which started in the morning was going on intermittently in the forward area.
Indian Army is learnt to have strongly retaliated the fire. It is not clear whether Pakistan Army suffered any fatal injuries or not.
A senior police officer in Rajouri told The Pioneer, heavy shelling was going on in the forward villages located close to the line of control. He said people have been advised to stay put inside bunkers or pucca houses to avoid any loss of life.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called for immediate de-escalation of the situation along the borders to put an end to the miseries of the people. The Chief Minister also condemned the killing of scores of police cadets in a terror attack on a Police Training Academy in Quetta, Pakistan.
“Ways and means shall have to be explored immediately to bring an end to the sufferings of the hapless people subjected to immense miseries over the past few months because of the continuous cross-border shelling and escalation of violence in the State and the region,” Mehbooba said while presiding over a meeting of the Unified Headquarters (UHQ) here.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister was briefed about wide-ranging issues including the emerging security scenario in Kashmir valley, situation along the borders and steps taken to address issues arising out of cross-border shelling.
The Chief Minister said the vicious cycle of death and destruction confronting the region must end at the earliest and serious efforts should be made at the political and civil society levels to revive the peace and reconciliation process for the larger good of the people sandwiched in a gory situation, an official spokesman said.
The Chief Minister said whatever the reasons for hardening of stances and attempts by the vested interests to subvert the peace process, there is, however, no substitute to the reconciliatory policy as was done in 2003. “With a decisive mandate at his back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the opportunity to revive the process of reconciliation in the sub-continent and emerge as a man of peace in the region,” she said and added that the prevailing challenging situation along the borders in Jammu & Kashmir necessitates the urgency of reviving the composite dialogue process, sooner the better.
She said significant reconciliatory measures taken between 2002 and 2005 in and around Jammu and Kashmir, both on internal and external fronts, had not only helped improve the security scenario in the region, but within the State as well. “The ceasefire of 2003, had not only given the much-needed relief to the people living along the borders, but it had, as well, provided the broader umbrella for the peace process to flourish,” she said and added that the ceasefire brought, after decades of tension and destruction, relief and normalcy into the lives of people residing in the State’s forward areas from Kathua to Kargil and “at the same time it also made historic initiatives like opening up of loC for bus service possible in J&K.”