This is the first such incident that took place along the LoC since the last week of February

Army sources said it is not yet clear if the soldier, identified as Jasvir Singh, who has since been brought to Srinagar’s 92 Base Hospital for specialised treatment, was injured due to the firing from across the LoC by militants attempting to breach the divide line or due to “mistaken firing”

Srinagar: An Indian soldier was injured in a shooting incident in a forward area along the Line of Control in J&K’s Kupwara sector late Tuesday night.

This is the first such incident that took place along the LoC since the last week of February when India and Pakistan had agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the de facto border and other sectors.

However, Army sources said it is not yet clear if the soldier, identified as Jasvir Singh, who has since been brought to Srinagar’s 92 Base Hospital for specialised treatment, was injured due to the firing from across the LoC by militants attempting to breach the divide line or due to “mistaken firing”.

Giving details of the incident, sources said the Indian Army personnel manning the “Anil Post” along the LoC, about 32 km from the district headquarters of Kupwara, observed some suspicious movement close to their post at around 10.30 pm on Tuesday. An alert soldier who was on guard duty at its access fired a few rounds from his service rifle. That was when Singh, 46, sustained a bullet wound, and given his condition was airlifted to Srinagar early Wednesday, the sources said. “It is not, however, clear if the Jawan sustained the injury due to the suspected infiltrators’ fire or in mistaken firing,” the sources said.

India’s director-general of military operations (DGMO) Lt. Gen. Paramjit Singh Sangha and Pakistani DGMO Maj. Gen. Nauman Zakaria had on February 25, after holding a discussion to review the situation along the LoC and all other sectors in a “free, frank and cordial atmosphere” over their established telephone hotline, announced that the two armies had begun observing a ceasefire along the borders in J&K from the midnight of February 24.

The pledge was welcomed by the UN Secretary-General, the United States and several other countries, and brought smiles on the faces of the border residents who had suffered immensely due to unending military tensions and frequent bouts of skirmishes between the troops across the divide line over the years.