* One held for conducting recee
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 11: Pakistan Army today suffered a major setback when its three soldiers were killed and an equal number of others were injured in retaliatory firing by the Indian troops at their Goi sector in Red Kathar area opposite Mendhar sector of Poonch district. The Indian retaliation came as Pakistani troops continued heavy firing and shelling in forward areas in Poonch sector for second consecutive day triggering panic among the people living in forward areas.
Police have, meanwhile, arrested a person, who had conducted recee of two historic religious places-one of them close to Samba town and another in Hiranagar town-after being assigned the task from across the border. The arrest came even as Intelligence Bureau sounded a fresh alert about an impending infiltration attempt along the Line of Control (LoC) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Official sources told the Excelsior that Tarsem Lal son of Chuni Lal, a resident of village Kesso Manhasan under the jurisdiction of Ramgarh police station in Samba district has been formally arrested and sent to Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) after an Intelligence agency intercepted a call on his mobile in which he had been asked to conduct recee of two religious places-one falling just kilometer short of Samba and another in a village in Hiranagar tehsil of Kathua district.
The Intelligence agencies followed the person and he was found conducting recee of both religious places on October 6. Though Tarsem Lal claimed that he had lost his SIM card on which the Intelligence agencies had traced the call, sources said the fact that he was found conducting recee of the two places pointed to his involvement in the case prompting police to formally arrest him.
He has been sent to the JIC.
Arrest of Tarsem Lal came close on the heels of the Intelligence Bureau today sounding the Intelligence agencies about an impending `Hiranagar like infiltration attempt’ by a group of militants either from the LoC or the IB. Confirming the alert, they said, Army and BSF have already been maintaining a very high state of alert on the borders.
They have intensified manual patrolling in the areas, where the fencing has been washed away, especially along the Nullahs, which could be used by the militants for infiltration.
Sources said Indian Army retaliated heavy Pakistani firing and shelling this morning leading to three fatal and an equal number of non-fatal casualties on their side at Goi sector in Red Kathar area opposite Mendhar sector.
Forward posts of Pakistan Army in Goi sector had been firing mortars targeting civilian population in the Indian side, which prompted the troops from this side to retaliate. After retaliation by the Indian troops, hectic activity was witnessed on Pakistan side in Goi sector with ambulances ferrying dead and injured Pakistan Army jawans to the hospitals.
Sources said Pakistan Army opened firing and resorted to shelling for second consecutive day today at Barasingha, Mendhar, Hamirpur and Balakote simultaneously at 8.30 am today. Pakistan Army fired mortar shells and used automatic and other weapons in the firing.
There were no casualties or damage on the Indian side in the firing though some mortar shells and their splinters fell close to the forward Army posts and civilian areas.
As reported, Pakistan Army had resumed mortar shelling in the forward areas yesterday after more than a month sending wave of panic among the people living in the villages ahead or close to the fencing.
Few mortar shells landed close to the villages Drana Top, Basooni, Balakote, Tain, Mankote and Chhajla but there was no report of any damage to the houses.
Meanwhile, the BSF has geared up repair work on border fencing along the IB in Jammu sector, where it had been washed away due to flash floods in Monsoon rains, to ensure that the militants didn’t manage to take advantage of damaged fencing to sneak into this side.
Repair work on the border fencing damaged due to flash floods is on at “war footing”, BSF said today, in the backdrop of increased infiltration attempts from across the border in recent days.
“The work to repair the border fencing damaged due to flash floods is going on fast,” a BSF officer said.
The flash floods in the Basantar and Ujh rivers, which were triggered by heavy rains, have caused damage to 700-800 meters of three-tier border fencing along India-Pakistan border in Kathua-Samba border belt of the State in August this year.
The patches of 200-300 meters of border fencing had suffered damages in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts due to flash floods along International Border in riverine belts.
At some places, the border fencing has been fully washed away by the flash floods in the riverine areas of Basantar belt.
“The work is taken up by BSF troops and we hope to complete it soon,” he said.
Apart from the fence, work will also be started on the construction of the Border Out Post (BoP), which also suffered damage during the flash floods in the belt, he said.
The troops guarding the borderline are keeping a close watch on the three-tier border fencing areas in view of the threat of infiltration from across the border, he said.
Nearly 190 kilometers of border along IB in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts from Moluchak (Akhnoor LoC) to Pathankot in Jammu is fenced and floodlighted to stop cross-border infiltration and smuggling of narcotics and weapons into the State from Pakistan.
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