Meanwhile, a family had a narrow escape in Ramgarh area of Samba when a mortar shell landed on their roof and pierced through the ceiling of a living room. The family members, however, escaped unhurt. Intelligence reports indicated that Pakistan Army regulars have taken control of certain crucial sectors along the International Border and assisting Pakistan Rangers in carrying out surgical strikes on the forward Indian posts to inflict maximum damage.
Ex-servicemen in RS Pura sector, who had participated in the 1965 and 1971 wars, claimed on the basis of their past experience that the intensity of exchange of fire and the use of weaponry is clearly indicative of the fact that Pakistan Army regulars must have been assisting Pakistan Rangers to target the Indian posts during the night.
Following these developments, the Indian Army has also started gearing up its defences along the border areas in RS Pura sector. On Thursday large number of Army men surfaced in the border areas to carry out repair work of bunkers abandoned in the border areas close to the International Border.
They also carried out demonstrations and practice drills in some of the bunkers after completing massive cleanliness drive of bunkers along the border area. The exercise was largely aimed at instilling confidence among the border residents. BSF had also rushed additional troops to plug the gaps and prevent any infiltration in the garb of intense exchange of firing. In several other sectors along the IB terrified villagers continue to live under the constant shadow of death and destruction.
In many vulnerable areas the villagers have started digging bunkers to ensure their safety in the wake of heavy exchange of firing while in some of the households where bunkers existed the families are forced to spend long nights huddled inside the bunkers. Sham Singh, a villager in Pindi said, I am spending nights in the bunker of my house along with other family members. According to BSF sources, “In the intervening night of October 23-24, two incidents of ceasefire violations were reported along the IB in Niki Tawi and Ramgarh sub-sector.
During the heavy exchange of firing from both sides two mortar shells landed on the BSF post in Ramgarh area while exchange of fire also took place in Nikki Tawi area where Pakistan Rangers targeted BOP Garuda till 3.00 am. During the day no fresh exchange of fire took place along the border.
However, the Pakistan Rangers opened ‘unprovoked’ firing in the Kanachak sector around 6.00 pm and targeted BOP SOHAN manned by 86 BSF battalion. Four civilians including two women and two children were injured when a mortar shell exploded near their house and all of them received splinter injuries. The injured belonged to the family of Tara Chand.
Due to continuous pounding of forward Indian villages in Garkhal area of Akhnoor, at least 250 local villagers including senior citizens, women and children were shifted by the local authorities to Government High School in Rajpura late Thursday evening. According to official sources, as intensity of shelling increased and rockets started raining over the forward villages in Garkhal the local residents were asked to shift to safer places.
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