Eerie silence on J&K borders

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU, OCT. 16. After the fierce assault across the Line of Control (LoC) by the Indian army on Monday in which 11 Pakistani posts were destroyed, the borders in the entire Jammu and Kashmir were ``quiet and calm'' till late evening on Tuesday. However, the troops have been put on high alert on the State's borders.

Both the army and the BSF authorities told The Hindu that nothing unusual was reported from any part of Jammu region today. Unexpectedly, the Pakistani side also maintained calm and no retaliatory firing was reported. A Defence spokesman at 16 Corps headquarters here said the borders were ``quiet and normal.'' ``We have intensified the patrolling of troops on the borders in order to foil the Pakistani attempts to push the infiltrators to this side. We know that their plans to send militants have not changed so we are accordingly on alert,'' he added.

Asserting that Monday's action, the first of its kind in the recent past, was also aimed at preventing infiltration from the Pakistan side, he, however, denied that any Pakistani post was captured. Casualties on the Pakistani side could be high as their posts and bunkers had been completely destroyed.

The BSF has also intensified vigil along the International Border(IB) in Jammu. Since fencing along the borders in Akhnoor, Arnia and Samba sectors has been going on, Pakistan has been resorting to unprovoked shelling to prevent it, but the work was proceeding unhindered, IG, BSF, Jammu frontier, Mr. Vijay Raman said.

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