Punjab: Retreat ceremony for public along Pak border to resume from May 21
Amritsar (PTI): The Border Security Force (BSF) has said the public flag-lowering retreat ceremony at three locations in Punjab along the Pakistan frontier will begin on Wednesday, about two weeks after it was stopped following Operation Sindoor by India in response to the Pahalgam attack.
The Jalandhar headquartered Punjab frontier of the force said the ceremony will resume from Tuesday, but it will be open only for media persons. The public can participate from Wednesday, it said, adding the event time will be 6 pm.
Officials said on Monday that the event held daily in the evening at Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki will be opened for public viewing from May 20.
The ceremony, however, will be curtailed as BSF troops will not shake hands with Pakistan Rangers, and the gates will not be opened during the flag-lowering process as declared earlier, officials had said.
The flag was being lowered each day by BSF troops irrespective of the public presence, the officials clarified.
The BSF on May 8 stopped public entry for this event at these three locations, citing "public safety".
The decision was taken a day after India destroyed nine terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor, a retaliatory military offensive against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people dead.
It had, days after the attack, declared that the public ceremony would be conducted, but without opening the border gates and the traditional shaking of hands between the BSF and Rangers.
The Indian flag is lowered every evening by BSF troops in synchronisation with Pakistan Rangers at the joint check posts located at Attari (Amritsar district) opposite Pakistan's Wagah, Hussainiwala in Ferozepur district across Ganda Singh Wala and at Sadki in Fazilka district.
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11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
