Five soldiers injured as Pak resorts to heavy shelling on 55 forward areas along LoC in J&K
Jammu, Feb 26: Five Army soldiers were injured and two houses damaged as Pakistani army resorted to heavy mortar shelling on 55 forward areas in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts on Tuesday, officials said, hours after IAF jets struck a JeM terror camp across the LoC.
The Pakistani army used heavy weaponry, firing 120-mm mortar targeting civilian hamlets and forward posts since 5.30 pm Tuesday, they said.
They fired from small, automatic and heavy weaponry in Krishna Gati, Balakote, Khari Karmara, Mankote, Tarkundi areas in Poonch district; Kalal, Baba Khori, Kalsian, Laam and Jhangar areas in Rajouri; and Pallanwala and Laleali sub sectors in Jammu, officials said.
In Akhnoor sector, five soldiers were injured and have been hospitalized, they said.
In Mankote sector of Poonch, two houses were damaged, they said.
The officials said Indian troops gave a "befitting reply" to the firing.
According to officials, more than a dozen ceasefire violations took place on Tuesday the fourth consecutive day of Pakistan shelling and firing on Indian posts.
Earlier Tuesday, Pakistan violated ceasefire in Nowshera sector along the Line of Control (LoC), an officer said, adding that locals in the border areas have been asked to not venture out.
Panic gripped the border areas and some locals have left their homes and moved to safer areas, multiple reports said.
Authorities have ordered a temporary closure of educational institutions in a 5-km radius along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts on Wednesday.
Since last Wednesday, Pakistan has violated ceasefire everyday, barring Friday, the officer said.
The year 2018 had witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations numbering 2,936 by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the Indo-Pak border.
Pakistan continues to violate the 2003 ceasefire agreement with India, despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence to the pact during flag meetings between the two sides.
Amid mounting tensions between the two countries, following the Pulwama terror attack on Feb 14 and an Indian air strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed camp inside Pakistan Tuesday, people along the LoC and the International Border are living in fear.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
