Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 19: The Border Security Force (BSF) has strengthened its positions all along the border especially in vulnerable areas of RS Pura and Samba sectors in the wake of heavy firing by Pakistan triggering panic among the villagers putting up in forward areas.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the BSF has created a second line of defence has been created at some places on the borders especially in Abdullian, Arnia, Pansar etc, which had repeatedly been targeted by the Rangers over the past few days on the International Border (IB).
“The BSF was maintaining a high alert all along the IB. Two days of lull on the IB was being attributed to Eid celebrations as security forces anticipated that the Rangers could resume the firing anytime as they were frustrated over detection of the tunnel at Chechwal in Samba sector’’, sources said.
They added that the BSF has adequately strengthened its positions in all forward areas on the IB to thwart any mischief by the Rangers. They pointed out that second line of defence would not only strengthen the BSF positions but also protect the people living in forward areas.
Police stations falling in the border areas have also started patrolling in their areas to check any unwarranted movement and boost morale of the people, who were fearing trouble from across the border going by the way the Rangers had resorted to heavy firing over the past fortnight.
Sources said though the BSF has further strengthened its positions in Samba and RS Pura sectors, it was not taking any chance in other border areas of Jammu like Domana, Kanachak, Pargwal and Akhnoor, where the jawans were already maintaining a high alert.
A BSF jawan has been killed and three other injured in the firing so far. Reports, however, said that Pakistan has also suffered heavy losses in retaliatory firing by the BSF. The Rangers have violated ceasefire seven times during past fortnight on the IB and thrice on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector.
Sources said the BSF authorities have submitted a detailed report to their Headquarters in New Delhi about frequent spells of firing and ceasefire violations by the Rangers on IB in Jammu sector forcing BSF to retaliate to silence Pakistani guns.
Meanwhile, BSF and police officers besides the civil administration continued to take rounds of forward villages to review the situation and inter-act with the people.
The officers have assured the people of full protection, a result of which the villagers have decided not to migrate though some elderly people, who have their houses some distance short of the border, kept on shifting to safer areas in the night and return to their houses in forward areas during the day.
The people, however, feared that if the ceasefire breaks, they would face the worst situation again. “We will have to migrate to safe areas in that case as Pakistan used to fire on villages and scores of people were killed and injured in such firing and shelling in the past especially before the ceasefire came into force in November 2003″, they said.
“Government had promised us to give lands at safe places nearly 8 years ago, but they have not fulfilled it and now we again face the same situation,” they added.
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