Land caves in near LoC, cross-border tunnel suspected

A portion of land close to a sensitive forward area near the Line of Control (LoC) caved in, triggering apprehension of a cross-border tunnel near an Indian post in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district even as the Army launched an on-the-spot investigation.

“During the patrolling of the area, Army troops found the ground caved-in at the forward area along the LoC near Chakla Post tonight,” a senior Army officer told PTI.

The caved-in spot was near the stretch where militants had made an infiltration bid on July 22 this year, the officer said, adding that a militant and a jawan were killed in the incident.

“We are suspecting (if it is a tunnel) and physical investigation is going on in the area... It is premature to say whether there is a tunnel or not,” he said, adding that there are so far no indication of the presence of cross-border tunnel in the area.

Acording to reports, an area between a Ditch-cum-Bandh (DCB) and the LoC post has caved in, and Army engineers and other technical staff have gone to the area to verify the nature of the cave-in.

On July 27, 2012, a cross-border tunnel was detected after earth caved in at two to three places due to rains near BSF’s Chillayari Border Outpost (BOP) in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir.

“After the cave-ins, the area was dug out to know the reason. But, the authorities were surprised to find a tunnel leading into Samba from the Pakistani side. The tunnel, with a dimension of 3x3 ft, was running between Chillayari BOP and Pakistan’s Numberiyal BOP,” the officer added.