Jammu: Five people, including four civilians and a BSF trooper, were killed and 10 others injured on Friday in Pakistani shelling and firing on the international border in Jammu district.
According to a semior police official, five, including Border Security Force constable Sitaram Upadhyay, were killed by the Pakistan Rangers in RS Pura, Arnia and Bishnah sectors.
Among the civilian dead was a 45-year-old woman and three males.
The other ten killed in Pakistan Rangers firing were an assistant sub-inspector of BSF. The injured have been shifted to a hospital where there all were undergoing treatment.
The police official said that evacuation of civilians from the affected areas was on as intermittent firing exchanges were going on between the Indian and Pakistani forces.
State Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed grief over the killings at a time when the Indian government has announced a ceasefire in the state.
The Chief Minister tweeted: “Continued firing on the border in Jammu is cause of pain and worry. Sad that while our country took the lead in starting peace initiatives with cessation of operations during Ramzan, Pakistan has shown no respect whatsoever for this holy month.”
In another comment, she said: “Pakistan will have to reciprocate and contribute to efforts for lasting peace. Everyone must realise that violence is a zero sum game. My deepest condolences to families of the victims.”
Sources in the BSF said that Pakistani Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling on the international border in Jammu’s RS Pura, Bishnah and Arnia sectors beginning at 1 am on Friday.
“Constable Sitaram Upadhyay posted at the Jabowal border outpost was injured. He was being shifted to hospital but succumbed to his injuries en route,” a BSF official said adding that an assistant sub-inspector also sustained splinter injuries in the Pakistani shelling on the Pittal border outpost.
The unprovoked firing by the Pakistan Rangers is being retaliated strongly and effectively at all these places by the Indian forces, added the official.