A senior government official, a two-year-old girl, and a 55-year-old woman were among five persons killed, while several others were injured, in heavy Pakistani shelling in Rajouri, Poonch, and Jammu districts early Saturday, according to officials.
Raj Kumar Thappa, a Jammu and Kashmir bureaucrat and Additional District Development Commissioner of Rajouri, was killed in shelling by Pakistani troops in J&K’s Rajouri.
The others killed have been identified as
two-year-old Aisha Noor, Mohd Shohib (35), a 55-year-old woman named Rashida Bi, and Ashok Kumar alias Shoki, a resident of Bidipur Jatta village.
Rashida Bi lost her life when a mortar shell hit her house at Kanghra-Galhutta village in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district, reported The New Indian Express.
Thappa, who received serious splinter injuries after a shell hit his house, was evacuated to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
“Devastating news from Rajouri. We have lost a dedicated officer of the J&K Administration Services. Just yesterday he was accompanying the Deputy CM around the district & attended the online meeting I chaired. Today the residence of the officer was hit by Pak shelling as they targeted Rajouri town, killing our Additional District Development Commissioner Sh Raj Kumar Thappa. I’ve no words to express my shock & sadness at this terrible loss,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted on X.
Nearly 20 civilians, including children, have been killed in Pakistani shelling so far.
Locals say many residential houses and other structures in Rajouri, Poonch, and Uri were damaged in the overnight shelling by Pakistani troops.
A day earlier, Armyman M. Murali Naik, 23, from Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh, was shot in cross-border firing and died while being taken to hospital.
On Friday evening, explosions were heard in Srinagar’s airport area, Samba, Jammu city and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, Pathankot and Ferozepur in Punjab, and Barmer in Rajasthan as border areas witnessed blackouts Friday.
Indian defence officials said Pakistan is violating the ceasefire and that the Indian armed forces are effectively retaliating to the attacks.
