Mohit Kandhari  

In one of the gravest provocations during Ramzan, the Pakistan Rangers late on Tuesday targeted BSF soldiers ferrying “Defence material”, killing four personnel, including Assistant Commandant Jitendra Singh. Three other BSF jawans sustained serious injuries. The incident triggered panic in the border villages across the Jammu frontier.

Three BSF martyrs hailed from Rajasthan, while one belonged to Uttar Pradesh.

According to field reports, after some BSF jawans received critical injuries in the initial burst of firing from across the border, rescuers were rushed in to the spot to evacuate victims. The rescuers too came under heavy fire from the Pakistani side near the shrine of Baba Dalip Singh Manhas, popularly known as Baba Chamliyal, in Ramgarh sub-sector of Samba.

According to local BSF authorities, Assistant Commander Jitendra Singh from Jaipur had joined the duty on Tuesday after returning from pilgrimage. He was supervising the ongoing activity related to reinforcements in the forward area.

Senior BSF officers said Pakistan has betrayed India by not honouring its commitment made at the recent DGMO-level talks which were followed by a sector commander-level flag meeting on June 4.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed deep anguish and grief over the death of four BSF personnel.

Meanwhile, addressing a Press conference here at the frontier headquarters after attending the wreath-laying ceremony in Paloura, BSF Additional Director General (ADG) Kamal Nayan Choubey told the media, “Since the ceasefire was on, we tried to use the occasion to strengthen our defence and the team was ferrying the defence material. Pakistan violated the ceasefire and fired at them with flat trajectory weapons followed by mortar firing.”

Earlier in the day, BSF Inspector General of Jammu frontier Ram Awtar said, “It was not a Border Action Team (BAT) attack but cross-border firing. It happened around 9.45 pm on Tuesday night. We have retaliated and other actions are in the pipeline.”

This is for the second time that the Pakistan Rangers violated the pact after agreeing to enforce ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit.

The Pakistan Rangers has so far killed 19 people and injured 67 others, besides displacing over a lakh people from the border areas of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts during Ramzan with intermittent firing. Fifty-two people, including 26 security personnel, have been killed on the LoC and the International border in Jammu region this year so far.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Thursday, 14 June 2018