Border dwellers rushed to safer places as Pakistan resorts to shelling on IB [details]

Thousands of border dwellers of R S Pura, Bishnah, and Arnia sectors of Jammu and Kashmir were forced to take shelter at safer places as Pakistan resorted to heavy shelling along the International Border (IB) in Jammu district.

Fear-stricken border residents left their homes and hearths late Thursday evening after Pakistan started unprovoked firing on civilian areas.

Initial reports said that two jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers and a woman were injured in the shelling from across the border.

Dev Raj Choudhary, Sarpanch of the border village of Bullay Chak in Sai Kalan, said that Pakistani Rangers started unprovoked firing targetting civilian areas.

He said that a couple of houses were badly damaged after being hit by shells fired from the border but there was no loss of life in the firing.

Reports said that the firing on the border started late Thursday and continued till earlier Friday morning.

In the initial firing, two BSF jawans namely Basavraj SR, 30, hailing from Karnataka, and Sher Singh were injured in the Arnia sector. The injured woman was identified as Rajni Bala, 38, wife of Balbir Singh, resident of Ward 5, Arnia. They were evacuated from the site of the firing and admitted to the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu where their condition was stated to be stable.

People asked not to venture out

Amid heavy exchange of firing and shelling on the IB, border dwellers were asked not to venture out of their homes. Throughout the night border inhabitants kept their lights off on the directions of the authorities.

Keeping in view the sensitivity of the situation, Additional Deputy Commissioner Jammu Harjinder Singh rushed to the firing-affected villages at midnight to supervise the operation to evacuate people to safer places.

A number of labourers, who had come to work in fields during the ongoing harvesting season of the paddy crop, were first to desert the villages to take shelter in safer areas. Later, some locals also moved to other villages where there was less impact of firing.

The latest round of firing and shelling comes over a week after two BSF personnel were injured following unprovoked firing by the Rangers in the same Arnia sector around the same time on October 17.

BSF already lodged protest with Pakistan Rangers

After the unprovoked firing from across the border on October 17, the Border Security Force (BSF) has already lodged a protest with Pakistan Rangers.

A day after the violation of ceasefire violation by Pakistan, the BSF highlighted the issue at a commandant-level flag meeting held at a border outpost (BoP) along the International Border (IB) in the RS Pura sector.

The BSF also raised the issue of smuggling of narcotics from across the border at the meeting and said that they have pictorial evidence of smugglers who have been killed by the force.
On February 25, 2021, India and Pakistan announced to strictly adhere to a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in J&K.

The director generals of military operations of India and Pakistan reviewed the situation along the Line of Control (Loc) and all other sectors and agreed upon achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders.