A Sector Commander-level flag meeting between Pak Rangers and BSF counterparts was organised late Monday evening opposite BOP Octroi in Suchetgarh area of RS Pura sector with an aim to broker peace in the region.

According to BSF spokesman, the meeting went off in a conducive atmosphere with prime focus to maintain peace and tranquillity on border”. During the meeting the officers from both the countries decided to hold next Sector Cdr level meeting on 21 Jun 2018.

BSF spokesman also expressed hope that the meeting is likely to bring firing-free environment, particularly for border area villagers on both sides. “Commanders on both side agreed to keep talks on at every level to develop confidence between two border guarding forces”, BSF spokesman said. On Sunday, shooters deployed by the Pakistani rangers in their forward posts had targeted BSF jawans from a very close range before puncturing their head and chest along the International border in Akhnoor sector of Jammu frontier.

While BSF authorities handed over a strong letter of protest to their Pakistani counterparts they pounded several forward villages in the area and targeted civilian population for about 10 hours on Sunday. The BSF too had hit back and retaliated strongly.

Highly placed official sources told The Pioneer, “After scanning the videos and thermal images recorded in the surveillance grid senior officers of the BSF Jammu frontier have concluded that an ASI and BSF jawan both attained martyrdom after they were hit by a sniper shot from a very close range”. One of the BSF soldier was shot in the head and another in the chest by the sniper shot, official sources revealed.

On Sunday BSF spokesman had claimed, “ASI SN Yadav and constable VK Pandey had sustained critical injuries during ‘unprovoked’ firing and later they succumbed in the hospital”.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Tuesday, 05 June 2018 | Mohit Kandhari | Jammu