Sanjeev Pargal
-Excelsior/Tilak Raj
JAMMU, May 3: Army foiled a major infiltration attempt on the Line of Control (LoC) at Sabjian sector in Poonch district while security forces recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition including three rifles in Bharat area of Doda district today, thwarting yet another terror plot in the erstwhile Doda district, the third during past over a fortnight.
Meanwhile, BSF Director General Devender Kumar Pathak today conducted an extensive aerial tour of the border belt in Rajouri and Poonch sectors before flying back to New Delhi after his first three days visit of Jammu. Pathak held a high level review meeting with Army and BSF officers at Army’s 25 Div Headquarters to review situation along the LoC. The BSF today handed over a protest note to the Rangers on the detection of another portion of underground tunnel at Chillyari in Samba sector yesterday.
Official sources told the Excelsior that troops observed movement of a group of four to five militants trying to infiltrate inside the Indian territory from the LoC in Sabjian sector of Poonch district and opened firing on them to neutralize their movement.
Army spokesman Col Manish Mehta said the alert troops opened firing after observing movement of the militants close to the LoC in Sabjian sector of Poonch district. After the firing, the militants retreated to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), he added.
Sources said number of the militants was between four to five and all of them were equipped with heavy weaponry but finding the troops alert on this side, the militants fled back to PoK, wherefrom they had been launched to this side.
Troops conducted searches at Sabjian sector during the day. However, there were no traces of the militants on this side.
In another incident, Army and police today recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition during a search operation at Bharat area in Doda district.
This was third consignment of arms and ammunition recovered in erstwhile Doda district during past over fortnight, which indicated that the militants might be plotting to carry out a terror strike and revive the dying militancy.
Recoveries made from a hideout in Bharat included one AK-56 rifle, two Self Loading Rifles (SLRs), two magazines and 226 rounds of AK-56, one magazine and four rounds of SLR, six rounds of UBGL, one Motorola radio set, one binocular and one tape recorder with two cassettes.
Army and police conducted searches in the area after effecting the recoveries but there was no trace of militants.
Prior to this, security forces had recovered two consignments of arms and ammunition from Pul Doda in Doda district and Marwah in Kishtwar district last month.
Sources said the militants might be trying to revive the militancy in erstwhile Doda district by carrying out terror strikes during the elections for which they had dumped the weaponry at different places. However, due to massive deployment of security forces, the militants failed in their plot, they added.
Meanwhile, DG BSF Devender Kumar Pathak today held another round of high level review of security situation with top brass of Army and BSF at Army’s 25 Div Headquarters in Rajouri.
Mr Pathak, who is on a three days visit of Jammu, today flew to Rajouri and had an aerial survey of forward posts on the LoC, where BSF is deployed along with IG BSF, Jammu Frontiers, SS Tomar. He also met GOC 25 Infantry Div Maj Gen Saranjit Singh and other senior officers in Rajouri for security review.
The senior Army and BSF officers in the review meeting apprised Mr Pathak about the prevailing situation in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch besides on the LoC, the infiltration attempts made by the militants, which were successfully thwarted by security forces and number of militants camping on PoK side of the LoC waiting to sneak into this side.
Prior to Rajouri visit, Mr Pathak landed at Uchaar along the LoC in Poonch in 135 BSF battalion headquarters to review the situation in Poonch district. He met BSF Sector Commander DIG Raj Singh Kataria and other senior officers to acquaint himself with the situation prevailing on the LoC.
The DG BSF had yesterday visited forward areas along the International Border in Hiranagar and Samba sectors and reviewed the situation.
Mr Pathak flew back to New Delhi this afternoon.
The BSF had yesterday also detected a portion of a caved-in tunnel in Samba sector, which is the latest alignment point of the 400-meter long cross-border tunnel which was found in July two years ago, sources said.
“A caved-in portion of a tunnel in Chillyari border belt in Samba district was found 23 meters away, inside Indian territory, from pillar number 170 on Zero-line on International Border,” sources said.
The tunnel’s dimension is 3×3 feet.
It is the latest alignment point of the 400-meter long cross-border tunnel which was found along the International Border on July 28, 2012.
In this regard, BSF authorities have handed over a protest note to Pak Rangers over the tunnel issue, sources said.
The detection of caved-in-portion of this tunnel close to border has exposed Pakistan, that cross-border tunnel was dug from Pakistan side into the Indian territory to carry out infiltration and smuggling from across the border, which was denied by Pakistan in the past, they said.
Asked whether BSF will take up the issue with Pakistan, sources said: “Director General of BSF will take a call on that what is to be done further”.
BSF authorities on July 28, 2012 had detected a 400-meter tunnel into India from Pakistan along Indo-Pak Border in Chillyari forward belt of Samba district.
The tunnel was detected after an area caved-in a straight line at two to three places due to rains near border fencing near Chillyari Border Out Post (BoP) of BSF along the IB in Samba sector.
The tunnel has been dug out between two sides along IB on India’s Chillyari BOP and Pakistan’s Numberiyal BOP.
The area was dug out by excavators and bulldozers and large number of BSF men. The tunnel’s dimension of 3×3 feet is about 400 meters into Indian side from the IB, where pillars of demarcation stand.
The credit of discovering the tunnel in 2012 goes to a 12th class student Sukhdev, who first had first seen his farm land caved in and had informed BSF.
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