As war clouds hover, shells begin to rain

Sources said trouble began at around 6.30 pm when a shell from across the border fell near the office of the Deputy Commissioner, two others struck the area near the Teachers’ Training School and one near R K Hotel at the bus stand. This led to fear and panic among residents.

Within seconds, the main bazaar in Poonch emptied out. The entire town plunged into darkness and till late tonight, power had not been restored.

Hundreds of villagers are making a beeline for Jammu, and Army trucks carrying more troops and ammunition towards the front point to an impending showdown, especially along the 740-km long LoC.

Dug in deep in his bunker in Akhnoor, rifleman Kulbeer Singh peers through the gun sight of his medium machine gun. His friend Amrit is fast asleep. Only the barrel of the gun can be spotted through a tiny hole carved into the bunker’s wall.

‘‘There is a trend in their shelling. The Pakistani army resorts to shelling when they want to push infiltrators,’’ says Kulbeer. ‘‘Their aim is to ensure we keep our heads down while the infiltrators sneak in. But now we open fire on suspected routes of infiltration the moment shelling begins.’’ At the LoC, the effort is to stop groups of eight to ten men in their tracks. ‘‘It is only at the higher command level that they are aware of the larger picture. Our aim is to stop these 8-10 men from sneaking in and that is what we are trying to do,’’ says an official. Though the focus of the Army is to launch an offensive into PoK, should the decision be taken, there is no weakening of the internal security grid. ‘‘The main body of troops is engaged in protecting the LoC. The ghataks (commando) company has laid ambushes right at the LoC to catch the terrorists. Should they dodge the first layer of security, we have positioned another layer in between. The Rashtriya Rifles (RR) troops are meanwhile dealing with terrorists who have already sneaked in,’’ says a senior officer commanding troops at the LoC.

The Army has had six months to prepare for this showdown. Unlike during the Kargil conflict of ’99, the army has chosen its defences well. The gun positions are effectively carved and guns dug in; signal centres and medical aid centres adequately located and supplied for.

Even during the incessant shelling, the medical aid centre continues to have generator-supplied electricity. There are sandbags near windows to prevent shell splinters from causing damage, and a foot-thick deep layer of mud on roof provides effective cover. The sound and smell of war may still be miles away New Delhi, but here the small arms firing has already graduated to 82-mm mortars and in some sectors, to 120-mm mortars.