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| Intrusion bid foiled in Ramgarh; one ultra killed, two hurt | | No change in Pak attitude on cross-border | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Dec 22: There has been no change in the attitude of Pakistan on cross-border infiltration which is borne by the facts on the ground: At least four militants, who sneaked into the Indian side from Ramgarh sub-sector near here Monday evening, kept BSF troops engaged in an intermittent exchange of fire for more than 15 hours.
However, foiling the infiltration bid -- sixth in the last one week, BSF troops killed one intruder this morning, besides injuring at least two others."The infiltration bid has been successfully foiled. The situation is under control, but the combing operation is on," BSF IG (Jammu Frontier) A K Sarolia said while talking to The Early Times."It was a group of infiltrators who tried to sneak into our territory, but we foiled their attempt," he asserted.
The trouble started Monday after about 7 pm when the Pak Rangers fired on the forward S M Pura and Kandral border outposts. The nearby SH-1 and Nanga outposts also came under the Pak fire later.
Taking the cover of firing and darkness, at least four militants sneaked into the Indian territory and reached closer to the barbed-wire fence. Hiding themselves in the thick sarkanda grass, that stretches to both sides of the International Border (IB), the ultras also opened fire.
"Amidst firing, BSF jawans noticed some suspicious on the IB," said Sarolia, who visited S M Pura and Kandral this afternoon. "Some suspected militants had entered our territory," he added.He said BSF gave an appropriate response to their firing.
In reply to a query, Sarolia said though there was no injury on the Indian side, at least one to two suspected militants were hurt in retaliatory fire by BSF. He did not confirm the death of any of the infiltrating militants.
Police sources, however, said at least one infiltrator was killed and two others were injured. Blood stains were seen leading towards the IB, the sources added.It was not easy for BSF to locate the militants hiding in the dense sarkanda at night as it blocked their visibility.As they kept changing their position while firing on the Indian positions, a multi-tier security was put in place to foil any infiltration attempt by them, the sources added.
Apart from police, all the local village defence committees (VDCs) and some volunteers had been put on extra vigil. All the entry and exit points in the border area were plugged properly.
In the morning, the troops were able to locate the direction from where the fire was coming. The troops fired in that direction, killing one of them and injuring at least two others at about 10 am. Sources said the dead and the injured were, however, dragged back to the Pak territory either by the unhurt militant or the Rangers themselves.
Reinforcements had not been withdrawn from the area and a massive "seek and destroy" operation was continuing till late tonight.When Sarolia's attention was drawn towards the last month's killing of a BSF DIG in the same area in an IED blast, he said they were trying to disturb situation on the Indian side. "We have taken appropriate measures to counter the same," he added.Asked if BSF had appropriate strength of jawans to guard the IB, he replied in the affirmative.
In reply to another query, he said, "We will take up this issue appropriately with the Pak Rangers in a flag meeting that will be fixed soon."Asked if the infiltrators had come closer to the fence with the Rangers' support, Sarolia said, "I think so."He said there was pressure on the IB every year in winters, but the troops, who were quite alive to the Pak tactics on cross-border infiltration, were prepared to foil any intrusion bid by the Pak-based militants.Sarolia, however, refused to make any comment on the BSF's Winter
Border Management Scheme.
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