A BSF soldier patrols along a fence at the India-Pakistan border in RS Pura south-west of Jammu. — AFP

Ravi Dhaliwal & Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur/Jammu, October 4

Pakistani troops on Tuesday again resorted to mortar shelling and firing on Army posts and civilian areas along the LoC in Jammu and Rajouri districts, even as BSF sources said eight men spotted near the India-Pak border in Punjab’s Gurdaspur recently might have come scouting the area for a possible militant strike.Meanwhile, amid heightened vigil, BSF troops seized an empty Pakistani boat on the Ravi in the Pathankot sector on Tuesday.

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Defence Spokesman Col Manish Mehta said, “Pakistan troops resorted to unprovoked firing in three areas of Noushera in Rajouri district from 0515 hours today.”They fired mortar bombs, automatic weapons and small arms, he said, adding that Indian troops gave a befitting reply.This was the sixth ceasefire violation in the past 36 hours when Pakistan troops have resorted to shelling and firing on Indian posts and civilian areas along the LoC.No casualties were reported in firing that began at Pallanwala at 1.35 pm on Tuesday. Mortars were being used by the Pakistan side and appropriate response was being given by the Indian Army.Yesterday, the Pakistani troops violated ceasefire four times and restored to heavy firing and mortar shelling in Saujian, Shahpur-Kerni, Mandi and KG sectors in Poonch district, injuring five civilians.UAVs seen close to border, says BSF The BSF said it has witnessed movement of UAVs very close to the Indo-Pak border in the recent past.”No doubt, the overall vigil has been increased (along western borders). All the defence and security forces establishments are on their highest alert. There is tension on the western border…we are having active engagement (with Pakistan) at the Line of Control and we are receiving shelling from the other side. However, we are in supportive role at the LoC (to army),” BSF Director General K K Sharma told reporters in Delhi.”We have noticed UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) coming 100 metre up to the border…maybe they (Pakistani forces) want to check our preparedness but I can assure you that we are fully capable of giving a befitting reply and we will not allow any nefarious design of terrorists to succeed,” he said.‘CCTV footage showed unarmed men close to fence’Meanwhile, two days after the border guards saw “suspicious movement” near the India-Pakistan border in Gurdaspur, BSF sources said eight unknown men spotted near the border may have been scouting for a possible militant strike.Senior BSF officers who were at Chakri on Tuesday claimed that images captured by CCTVs showed what clearly looked like people near the border, after the force reportedly cast doubts over what they had seen. A video showed the men, all unarmed, scattering when the guards began firing at them, sources said.  “Our Jalandhar-based analysts who checked the contents of the DVR have found some useful information. A group of unarmed men were loitering at a distance of 800 metre to 1 km from the barbed wire fencing… We can say with conviction that they were not smugglers. They had come to carry out a recce. An infiltration bid at a later date cannot be ruled out. We have tightened security near the border while the police have been asked to act as the second line of defence,” a BSF officer said, not wanting to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press.Until Monday night, the force was unsure if they had seen humans or a herd of cattle, sources said.However, coming as it did within hours of a militant strike at an Army camp in Baramulla, the development led to increased security in Punjab’s borders, particularly since the state has seen two terrorist strikes within six months of each other in the past year-and-a-half. Seventy personnel from the Punjab Armed Police have been deployed in area on the Punjab Police’s insistence.Although the BSF have not commented, police appeared to confirm that some people had been spotted near the area.“Now that we have concrete evidence that a group of men were sighted on the Pakistani side of the border we have increased surveillance in the area. All neighbouring villages are being searched. The operation will continue till tomorrow, when we will review it in the presence of senior officers. There are chances that the group may have acted as a camouflage to enable some men sneak in. We are ruling out nothing… we are leaving nothing to chance,” said Superintendent of Police Jasdeep Singh, who oversaw the deployment and remained at Dorangla for a large part of Tuesday.After an empty Pakistani boat was seized on the Ravi, a BSF officer said, “We have captured a Pakistani boat which had washed away to this side in the Ravi along the International Border (IB) in Pathankot sector.” a senior BSF officer said.The boat was probably washed away due to the rising water level in the Ravi in Pathankot sector, he said.The seizure comes two days after a Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard on October 2. — With agencies