BSF, Pakistan Rangers hold flag meeting on IB
Jammu, June 21: A flag meeting was held on Thursday between officers of the Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers on the International Border (IB) in Jammu district.
The BSF officials said the flag meeting was held on the request of Pakistan Rangers.
"Today at about 10.35 a.m., a Sector Commander-level flag meeting was held between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers at zero line on Octroi border outpost in Suchetgarh sector," the officials said.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) BSF frontier headquarters Paloura, Jammu, P.S. Dhiman and 11 other officials participated from the Indian side. Brigadier Muhammad Amjad Hussain and seven other officials of Pakistan Rangers came from the other side.
"During the meeting, various issues related to the border were discussed. BSF cautioned the Pakistan Rangers about the snipping acts and unprovoked ceasefire violations from Pakistan, asserting that the BSF will not tolerate these cowardly acts in future.
"Pakistan Rangers denied all the allegations and said that no snipping was done from their side," the officials said.
Both sides agreed to work together for maintaining peace and harmony along the IB and intimate each other before carrying out any construction work along the border.
The BSF also told Pakistan Rangers that no movement of armed persons along the IB should be noticed during late hours.
"Meeting was held in a conducive atmosphere with prime focus on maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border. Both sides agreed to develop confidence between them," the BSF officials said.
The meeting ended peacefully at 12 noon.
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Mathura boat capsize tragedy: Death toll climbs to 13
Mathura (UP)(PTI): With the recovery of two more bodies on Sunday, the death toll in the boat capsize incident in the Yamuna river in Mathura has climbed to 13, officials said on Sunday.
Search for three more missing persons is underway.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said renewed search efforts led to the recovery of the body of a college student, identified as Dinki Bansal, near Devraha Baba Ghat and that of a man identified as Rishabh Sharma approximately 3 km away from the accident site.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon when a boat carrying over two dozen tourists, primarily from Punjab, hit a floating drum of a pontoon bridge and capsized near Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan.
Most of the victims were from Jagraon and Dugri areas of Ludhiana district.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the district administration and local police were actively engaged in the search for the missing pilgrims.
However, strong currents of the Yamuna river and the significant depth of the water at the ghats are proving a hindrance.
Circle Officer (Mant) Sandeep Singh said the Yamuna river stretch extending from Keshi Ghat to Gokul Barrage has been divided into seven sectors.
The search for the missing individuals will now be conducted within this specific 20-square-km zone. A Station House Officer (SHO) has been designated as the in-charge for each sector.
Acting on the orders of the DIG (Agra Range), seven SHOs will oversee operations across the seven sectors of river Yamuna.
Giving details about the operation, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Pankaj Kumar Verma, citing NDRF officials, on Saturday had said although the search for the missing persons is currently focused within a 14-km radius from the spot where the boat had capsized, there is a possibility that they may have been swept much further downstream.
SHO of Vrindavan police station Sanjay Pandey said boat operator Pappu was arrested late on Friday night.
He is accused of failing to provide life jackets to passengers before allowing them to board the boat, and operating the boat at high speed. This resulted in the boat losing control and colliding with a pontoon bridge's drum, which led to the accident, officials said.
Police have registered a case and also arrested the contractor, Narayan Sharma, responsible for the repair work on the pontoon bridge.
Rawat said that on Friday evening, police registered a case under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the boatman Pappu (alias Dauji) and Sharma, and subsequently arrested them.
According to the case details, Pappu's boat did not have any safety equipment or provisions whatsoever.
Moreover, despite repeated pleas from pilgrims, Pappu operated the boat at high speed. By the time he realised the danger upon approaching the pontoons of the bridge, it was already too late.
Consequently, after colliding with a pontoon drum, the boat lost control and capsized. It has also come to light that he is among those operators who have not obtained the requisite license to operate a boat.
Sharma was carrying out the work of dismantling and reassembling the pontoon bridge without providing any prior notification.
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