A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan and a civilian were killed in fresh ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops along the International Border (IB) in Jammu on Thursday.
A BSF spokesman said A. Suresh of 78 Battalion was killed on the intervening night of January 17 and 18 as Pakistani troops initiated unprovoked fire on the border posts along the IB in Jammu’s R.S. Pora.
Suresh, a resident of Tamil Nadu, is survived by a daughter and a son.
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A 14-year-old girl, Sabity, a resident of Dayala Chak, Kathua, was also killed in another firing at the Pindi Charkan village of Arnia.
The fresh firing forced the authorities to close down schools falling within five-km of the border in Jammu.
State BJP Minister Chander Parkash, who toured the border villages, directed officials “to prepare beforehand for dealing with any untoward incidence and adhere to Standard Operating Procedures in case of rescue and relief operations”.
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BSF Director General K.K. Sharma on Thursday described the situation on the IB as “tense”. Speaking at the wreath-laying ceremony of the jawan, the DG asked the troops to retaliate with full might.
Police patrolling
Meanwhile, in a written reply in the J&K Assembly, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti informed the House that the government was developing “intelligence personnel to collect advance and target oriented inputs on filtration”.
“Foot patrolling, establishment of border police posts for generating local intelligence, regular patrolling along the border and laying of ambushes on suspected routes of infiltration are among the measures,” Ms. Mufti said.