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Journalism of Courage
Without ruling out a possible attempt of ceasefire-violation by Pakistan Rangers, Border Security Force on Friday claimed to have foiled a major attempt of infiltration by militants from Pakistan in Samba sector of Jammu. For the first time in the last four years, peace along the international border in Jammu & Kashmir was disturbed following heavy firing from Pakistan side in Samba district near here on Thursday night. Taking serious note of the matter, the BSF lodged a strong protest with the Pakistan Rangers. The BSF commander met his Pakistani counterpart and handed him the letter of protest. Sources said the Indian side was yet to receive a reply.
“Though there is no clear evidence of violation of 2003 ceasefire between India and Pakistan by the Rangers, we do not rule out the possibility of their having extended cover fire to infiltrating militants,” said Deputy Inspector General of BSF, J B Sangwan.
Infiltration attempts and stray incidents of one or two gunshots from across the Line of Control had been reported from time to time in the past too. However, these were always attributed to infiltrating militants. Thursday night’s exchange of fire assumed significance not only in view of its magnitude but also on account of it having taken place on the otherwise peaceful international border and that too, after the new political dispensation in Pakistan had suggested to keep Kashmir on the backburner to improve ties with India.
The continued peace between the two sides since November 2003 and restoration of democracy in Pakistan notwithstanding, the BSF and Army troops have been maintaining tight vigil along the LoC and international border following inputs about existence of militant camps across the border. Northern Army Commander Lt General R K Karwal had only last month said that 400 militants were waiting to sneak into Jammu Kashmir from across the border with the onset of summer. Director General of BSF A K Mitra had last week said militants were waiting across the border to sneak into the state once the snow melted.
Meanwhile, giving details about last night’s firing, sources said a BSF ambush party noticed some suspicious movement near the border around 10.40 pm. After sometime, they noticed that over a dozen heavily armed men were trying to cut the barbed wire fence. As the BSF challenged the infiltrators, they opened fire and lobbed 15 hand grenades at them. The fierce gun battle between the two sides continued for 15-20 minutes and after having fired around 1,000 AK shots, infiltrators managed to escape towards Pakistan side. On Friday morning, the BSF recovered 400 empties of AK series in its area.
There were no injuries on either side, sources said, adding that infiltrators had sneaked so deep into the Indian territory that they took cover of protection bund constructed by BSF for laying the barbed wire fencing. Even the exchange of fire between the two sides was not confined to one point, instead it had spread over to an area between pillar numbers 60 and 69, sources pointed out.
An alert was sounded in Jammu and outskirts, with policemen conducting surprise checks at nakas and other vulnerable places, following reports about the possibility of some militants having sneaked into the Indian territory, as the barbed wire fence on the border was found damaged.
“Without any tacit help of Rangers, how can it be possible for militants to escape after exchanging such a large volume of fire with BSF and hurling hand grenades?” asked a senior Army officer who wished not to be quoted.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs said it was closely watching the situation and waiting for a detailed report. Sources said as of now the MEA had not received any inputs from the BSF on the incident. They said the future course of action in taking up the matter with the Pakistani authorities would be decided only after a careful scrutiny of the evidence available.
