Residents of Punjab, Rajasthan calm but anxious after nerve-wracking night

Chandigarh/Jaisalmer: Schools were closed, most people stayed indoors and the occasional siren rang out as people in many border districts woke up to a tense Friday morning, calm but anxious about what the day would bring.

The night that was had been nerve-wracking with blackouts, loud blasts piercing through the quiet and the fear that their homes would be the frontier of war between India and its fractious neighbour Pakistan.

It passed off without further incident, much to the relief of those living in the border areas of Rajasthan and Punjab.

While Punjab shares a 532-km border with Pakistan, in Rajasthan, the border stretches about 1,070 km.

People in several border districts of Punjab, including Amritsar, Pathankot, Ferozepur and Gurdaspur, spent an anxious night as authorities enforced a complete blackout amid the heightened tensions.

In Pathankot, where some locals claimed they heard explosion-like sounds on Thursday night, calm prevailed on Friday morning.

Some locals said though they were anxious over the developments, they were confident as India's armed forces were swiftly thwarting Pakistan's attempts.

In the key border districts of Amritsar and Ferozepur, too, calm prevailed on Friday morning.

A few residents in Ferozepur told PTI Videos that while the atmosphere remained by and large calm on Friday morning, they were more apprehensive of the rumours doing the the rounds.

In Bathinda, a local told PTI Videos, “There was a lot sound of firing till midnight amid a complete blackout. We spent the night in fear, but things were calm today morning." Special prayers for peace were also held at some gurdwaras in the state, including in Mohali and Rupnagar, amid the soaring tensions.

Baldev Chand, an elderly man in Chandigarh who stuck to his routine morning walk on Friday, said while there were some anxious moments the previous night, there was nothing to worry given the way the Indian armed forces thwarted Pakistan’s attempts.

However, the UT administration later sounded a fresh air raid siren, appealing to people to remain indoors.

“An air warning has been received from the air force station of a possible attack. Sirens are being sounded. All are advised to remain indoors and stay away from balconies,” an official statement said.

About an hour later, the administration said the siren for the alert was over.

Similar sirens were sounded in Haryana's Panchkula and Ambala for a brief while, appealing to people to stay indoors.

The district administration in Patiala too issued an advisory, urging people to stay indoors and remain calm.

People in Rajasthan's border districts also recounted a night of fear and uncertainty amid sounds of loud explosions and a complete blackout.

“While we couldn’t see anything, we heard loud sounds that were scary,” said a resident of Jaisalmer bordering Pakistan.

Another resident said, "After the blackout, we could not realise what was happening. Later, we found out that it was an attack by Pakistan that our armed forces thwarted.” Amid the escalating tensions, the authorities extended the blackout in Jaisalmer till 6 am on Friday though the situation remained largely calm in the morning.

Meanwhile, a bomb-like object was found in the Kishanghat area of Jaisalmer district on Friday morning, prompting swift action by the local police and air force.

According to police, the object was found near a nursery in front of Kishanghat.

Kotwali SHO Prem Daan said it seemed to be a bomb-like object.

“It it currently not known if it is live or destroyed," the SHO said, adding that experts from the army were on their way to “defuse” it.

The area has been cordoned off as a precautionary measure, he said.

In Himachal Pradesh, the district administration in Bilaspur, which shares border with Punjab, issued an advisory on Friday prioritising the safety and security of citizens.

The advisory appealed to the residents to ensure a complete blackout in their respective areas to minimise risks in the event of a potential aerial attack.

On Thursday night, India thwarted Pakistan's fresh attempts to strike military sites with drones and missiles, after foiling its attempts to target military installations in 15 cities in the northern and western parts of the country.

The renewed attempts by the Pakistani forces came after the Indian armed forces on Wednesday carried out precise missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan under Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.