Pakistan carried out cross-border shelling on Saturday morning, causing significant damage to civilian areas in Jammu city and heightening fears among residents.BJP MLA from Jammu West, Arvind Gupta, advised people to sleep on the ground floor.Arvind Gupta said, “The shelling started at 4 am. At around 5.40 am, I was on the first floor of my house, which is around 50 metres from here. There was a sudden impact, I was a little scared. Three people were injured in the shelling.”He further said that Pakistan has no guts to have a direct fight with the Indian Army so it has started attacking the residential areas.The only reason behind the attack on residential areas is to cause panic in Jammu City. I appeal to the people not to gather wherever anything like this happens so that nothing untoward happens there if an attack happens there again. People should sleep on the ground floor. Rajouri ADC too lost his life in the night,” he said.Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed grief on the demise of J&K Administration Services officer Raj Kumar Thappa. The J-K CM offered his condolences to Thappa who lost his life after his home was targeted due to shelling from Pakistan in Rajouri.“Devastating news from Rajouri. We have lost a dedicated officer of the J&K Administration Services. Just yesterday he was accompanying the Deputy CM around the district & attended the online meeting I chaired. Today the residence of the officer was hit by Pak shelling as they targeted Rajouri town killing our Additional District Development Commissioner Raj Kumar Thappa. I’ve no words to express my shock & sadness at this terrible loss of life. May his soul rest in peace”, Omar Abdullah’s official ‘X’ post read.Civilian areas in Jammu’s Rajouri district suffered damage due to shelling by Pakistan.A series of explosions damaged several houses and properties across the region, triggering panic among residents.According to locals, smoke rose after loud explosions were reported in Rajouri. “One injured person has been brought here. Doctors and the entire team are ready. His treatment began immediately,” said Farukh Ahmed Wani, the security in-charge at the hospital.Authorities confirmed that the injured civilian was transported to the hospital shortly after the shelling. Strikes occurred near the Aap Shambhu Temple in Rajouri, prompting Jammu Police and other agencies to recover projectile fragments from the site.At least four airbases in Pakistan were hit by Indian strikes in the early hours of Saturday, top government sources said, as tensions between the two countries continue to escalate.India launched the retaliatory strikes immediately after Pakistan attacked 26 locations across India on Saturday, the sources told ANI. Intermittent firing is still going on at several places along the Line of Control (LoC). (ANI)
