M A I N   N E W S

Samba villagers first noticed tunnel
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria/TNS

Timely warning

A retired soldier and a teenaged boy of Chachwal village warned the BSF after they saw their fields caved in Fear has gripped the village after the detection of the tunnel and many villagers have sent their children to ‘safer’ places A senior BSF officer said with the detection of the tunnel, a big plan of the “enemy” has been foiled

The tunnel is 250 m inside India’s territory and probably as much stretch is on the other side in dense jungles (Lumbriyal post) in Pakistan. It must have taken more than six months to dig a tunnel that long, it is stated.

Chalyari (Indo-Pak border), July 29
Had a retired soldier and a teenager of Chachwal village not informed the BSF about the caved-in portion of their agricultural fields, barely 150 metres from the barbed fence along the international border in Samba sector, Pakistan would have possibly succeeded in its nefarious designs to disrupt India’s Independence Day celebrations.

Fear has gripped the border village after the detection of the tunnel which was being dug 25 feet below the ground. Prem Singh, a 60-year old retired Army soldier, said: “After a brief spell of rains on July 24 and 25, I noticed that a portion of my agricultural land had caved in. Sensing some foul play, I rushed to inform BSF jawans, who then alerted their senior officers.”

Soon the news spread like wildfire and since then senior BSF, CID, IB and district administration officials have been visiting the site to take stock of the situation, he said.

Sukhdev Singh (19) of the same village had also noticed big cracks in his field on July 26.

“My field had caved in and I immediately rushed to the nearby BSF post. The company commandant of the battalion concerned then inspected the site and thereafter an earth mover was requisitioned,” said Singh. He said the first of its kind incident in the area has created scare in the area.

Sandeep, last year in December, had shifted a BSF jawan to safety, who was hit by Pakistani bullets while patrolling the border on a horse. Another villager, Ashok Singh Lalotra, said fear has now gripped the villagers in Chachwal.

“Ahead of Independence Day, they could have used it for any terror activity including pushing armed terrorists and planting high-intensity explosives in the village or on the highway town to cause bloodshed,” said Lalotra.

Some panicked villagers have sent their children to the houses of their relatives in Samba town, he added.