14-foot secret tunnel found in Indo-Pak border

International Desk: A 14-foot secret tunnel being dug from Pakistan to infiltrate terrorists has been discovered by Border Security Force, or BSF personnel in Arnia sector of Jammu and Kashmir where Pakistani forces had been carrying out cross-border shelling over the last fortnight.

The discovery comes just a day after a meeting of local commanders of the Pakistan Rangers and BSF.

This is the second tunnel detected by the border guards along the International Border in the last seven months. The last one was in Ramgarh sector of Sambha.

The tunnel was right below the border fence put up to prevent infiltration into Indian territory. A BSF official said the tunnel was being constructed to push a large number of terrorists into India "to cause havoc in festival season" in Jammu.

Ram Avtar, the BSF's top officer for the Jammu region, said a patrol party today had spotted around 10-12 armed Pakistan nationals on the bank of Dhamla Nallah on the Pakistani side. When BSF troopers moved towards the tunnel, Pakistani forces started random mortar firing but the jawans stayed on track.

BSF jawans spotted the unfinished tunnel around 14-foot deep, about 3-foot height and 2.5-feet foot wide. They border guards have also came across what appeared to be the store that the terrorists were using. Apart from a grenade and AK-47 ammunition, the troopers also seized four sleeper bags, digging tools and ready to eat meals.

Mr Avtar said the terrorists had started digging the tunnels just 2-3 days back.

The effort comes days after repeated ceasefire violations in this region in recent weeks. A BSF trooper Bijender Bahadur, 32, and a civilian was killed in the border shelling over the last fortnight.

Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said Pakistan already stood exposed before the international community for its support to terrorism. He credited the Modi government for the BSF's success, saying the series of successes of the army and the BSF had been made possible due to PM Modi giving them professional freedom.

In 2012, a sophisticated 400-metre-long tunnel with ventilation pipes was discovered in the Samba sector and another was found near the Line of Control in the Akhnoor sector in 2009.

A 14-feet long tunnel being dug from Pakistan to infiltrate terrorists has been discovered by Border Security Force, or BSF personnel in Arnia sector of Jammu and Kashmir where Pakistani forces had been carrying out cross-border shelling over the last fortnight.

"An under-construction tunnel was found during sanitisation operation along the international border between Vikram and Patel posts near Damana," an official said, according to news agency Press Trust of India said. The border guards have also detected a spot that was being used as a "war-like" store.

This is the second tunnel detected by the border guards along the International Border in the last seven months. The last one was in Ramgarh sector of Sambha.

The BSF suspects the attempt to dig the tunnel under the fence border could be linked to ceasefire violations in this region in recent weeks. A BSF trooper Bijender Bahadur, 32, and a civilian have been killed in the border shelling over the last fortnight.

Source: NDTV online

risingbd/Dhaka/Oct 1, 2017/Amirul