A head constable from the Border Security Force (BSF) died, while four others were injured in the wee hours of Monday, when Pakistan violated ceasefire and resorted to cross-border firing in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday night. They also violated ceasefire in the Krishna Ghati sector of poonch district on Monday morning.
Pakistani troops fired 120 mm mortar shells at several forward Indian posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
"It's being responded strongly by own troops," Defence Ministry Spokesman Lt Colonel Manish Mehta told the media.
Five BSF jawans were injured in the firing that took place at the Tarkundi area of Rajouri district. One of them, Head Constable Raj Singh, succumbed to injuries later. Singh hailed from Rohtak's Kheri Sapala in Haryana and is survived by his mother, his wife Sunita Devi and their three sons, according to local media reports.
"Last night in heavy shelling from Pakistan side along the LoC in Rajouri area, four BSF Personnel sustained splinter injuries. Head Constable Raj Singh, who was seriously injured, succumbed to his injuries, while the condition of another personnel was serious," a BSF officer told the Indian Express.
Schools in several areas that have been victim to heavy mortar shelling and cross-border firing have been shut.
The ceasefire violation came a day after a BSF soldier and a woman were injured, while two houses were damaged after Pakistani troops resorted to heavy mortar shelling and small arms fire at Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors of Rajouri.
This is the fourth ceasefire violation by Pakistan since Saturday.
There have been over 280 incidents of ceasefire violation, firing and shelling along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir by the Pakistani Army, since the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC on September 29. At least 26 people, including 14 security personnel, have been killed in the firing.
