Jammu, May 19 (Agencies): An Army jawan was killed and two others injured on Sunday in the first major incident of firing by Pakistani troops at the Line of Control (LoC) after the Narendra Modi-led BJP's big win in the general elections.
The incident happened on Sunday morning when a team of Indian jawans had gone to the forward area of Jogwan in Pallanwalla sector to rescue a colleague - an Army jawan of 4 Engineers who had been injured when he stepped over a landmine when a team of soldiers was examining border fencing in the forward area.
When a team of the Army jawans went to the forward area to rescue their injured colleague and shift him to hospital, Pakistan Army personnel opened fire on them causing injuries to three more jawans. One of them, from the 2 Maratha Light Infantry unit, later succumbed to his injuries.
The patrol party was targeted by terrorists in Akhnoor area at 11 a.m. Sunday, Defence spokesman Col. Manish Mehta told IANS, adding Sepoy Bhikale was killed in this attack.
A high alert has been sounded in the area.
The army also foiled an infiltration bid on the Line of Control (LoC) in Bhimber Ghali area of the Poonch district Sunday when a group of guerrillas were prevented from sneaking into the Indian side.
An improvised explosive device (IED) left behind by the guerrillas was later destroyed.
Heightened tensions on the border between India and Pakistan have thrown the lives of thousands of civilians living close to the border out of gear.
A modicum of normalcy had returned after the signing of a bilateral ceasefire agreement in November 2003.
The agreement held well for some years, but last year frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops both on the LoC and the international border in Jammu and Kashmir again heightened tensions between the two neighbours.
In 2014, the Pakistani Army has violated the ceasefire agreement seven times so far.