A 21-year-old Rifleman, hailing from Samba district of Jammu region, attained martyrdom in a fresh sniper attack along the Line of Control (LoC) in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri on Saturday.
Over half a dozen incidents of sniper attacks have been reported from across the LoC this year in which equal number of jawans have lost their lives.
An Army porter was also killed in a similar sniper strike in Akhnoor sector on Friday evening.
Amid fresh escalation of tension, the foot soldiers of the Indian Army have been kept in a state of high alert to prevent any strike by the Border Action Team (BAT) of the Pakistan Army and terrorists.
Meanwhile, fresh ceasefire violation was also reported in Sunderbani area late on Saturday in which two BSF jawans received minor injuries.
Defence spokesman in Jammu, Lt-Col Devendra Anand said, “About 9.45 am on Nov 10, Pakistan Army resorted to an unprovoked ceasefire violation in Sunderbani Sector on the LoC. In the incident, Rifleman Varun Katal was critically injured and later succumbed to gunshot injuries.”
Lt-Col Anand said, “Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively on Pakistan Army posts”.
“The martyrdom of the Indian Army soldier will not go in vain,” he added.
Rifleman Varun Katal, hailed from Mawa village, Tehsil Rajpura in Samba district. He is survived by his parents, Anchal Singh and mother Pinki Rani.
Earlier, on November 6, a soldier was injured when he was hit by a sniper from across the border at Kalal in the Nowshera Sector of Rajouri, while a BSF man was injured in a separate incident of firing by Pakistan along the LoC in Manjakote area of the Rajouri-Poonch Sector on Friday.