Unprovoked firing was reported from the Pakistan side of the Harami Nala in Sir Creek on the Kutch border in Gujarat on the wee hours of Saturday.
Confirming the incident, the Border Security Force sources said it was not clear which were the agencies involved on the Pakistani side in resorting to firing but the Indian borders were subjected to three hours of continuous firing from midnight to about 3 A.M. on the night between Friday and Saturday.
The sources said the BSF had prior intelligence inputs that there could possibly be attempts to send infiltrators into India through the Harami Nala and set up a BSF water wing check post there. Around 11 in the night, a boat from Pakistan side came through the Harami Nala and resorted to firing on the Indian borders. As the BSF water wing returned fire, another boat, which was about 500 metres away, also opened fire on the BSF post. The exchange of firing continued till about 3 A.M. before both the boats went back to Pakistani waters.
The sources said while there was no casualty on the Indian side, it was not known if the return fire caused any casualty on the Pakistani side.
The immediate provocation for the firing was not known, but the security agencies did not discount the possibility of providing cover to the intruders. The BSF and the police on Saturday launched an intensive search in the area for possible intruders who could have landed on the Indian territory under cover of firing and taking advantage of the darkness, but till evening could not find any, the sources said. The search for the infiltrators would continue for some more time.
Guarding the difficult terrain of Harami Nala in the porous Sir Creek area posed one of the biggest challenges to the security agencies. The Nala located at the east of Sir Creek, originate from the Vianwari Creek on the Indian side and goes into Pakistan from G-Pillar 29 only to re-enter India from post number 1171 of the international boundary. It runs for about 22 kilometres in the Indian territory and about 25 km in Pakistan.
