Ahead of the day long visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the State of Jammu & Kashmir on May 19, a five member group of heavily armed fidayeen (members of a suicide squad) have managed to sneak inside the Indian territory via cross border tunnel in Hiranagar sector of Jammu frontier.

Following the serious breach a high alert has already been sounded in the entire border belt to neutralise these terrorists. BSF authorities claimed the infiltrators may have managed to infiltrate inside the Indian territory via cross border tunnel. However, the BSF has failed to detect any tunnel in the border area till the time of filing the report.

Meanwhile, a BSF jawan attained martyrdom late Monday night in heavy cross border firing while foiling separate infiltration bid from across the border in Samba sector.

According to BSF spokesman, "BSF jawan had sustained bullet injury on the left eye during cross border firing by Pakistan around 12.25 a.m. The jawan was immediately evacuated to Jammu Medical college but he succumbed to his injuries.

The BSF jawan has been identified as Constable Devender Singh (28 years) from Agra in Uttar Pradesh.

Director General BSF KK Sharma who arrived here in Jammu to take stock of the prevailing security situation along the International border across Jammu frontier told media persons, " at least five heavily armed terrorists might have infiltrated inside the Indian boundary via cross border tunnel".

An alert BSF sentry posted in the forward area of Bobiyan in Hiranagar sector had first detected movement of infiltrators close to the International border late Sunday night around 10.10 p.m.

As the day progressed massive search operations were launched in the area to track down the foot prints of these infiltrators. Local police and BSF also pressed its manpower to plug the gaps while army pressed helicopters into service. Various security installations located in the area were put on in a State of high alert to prevent any major terror strike.

Even as searches continued for the second day today the entire border belt has been sealed and special security check points have been raised to prevent entry of infiltrators towards the Jammu Pathankot National Highway.

Addressing media persons here at frontier headquarters DG BSF KK Sharma said, "we are trying our best to detect the tunnel which infiltrators might have used to sneak in".

Reacting to the reports of fresh infiltration bids from across the border and presence of trained terrorists across launching pads, DG BSF claimed, "BSF jawans are fully prepared to handle the situation on the border. We have always given befitting reply to Pakistan. This time also we will not spare them. The sacrifice of our brave soldiers will not go waste", he added.

Earlier DG BSF along with Deputy CM Kavinder Gupta,DG J&K Police Dr SP Vaid and other senior

BSF and police officers attended wreath laying ceremony and paid tributes to the martyred jawan before dispatching his mortal remains to his native village.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Wednesday, 16 May 2018 | Mohit Kandhari | Jammu