Another Army soldier killed by Pakistani sniper along LoC in J-K; third in three days

author-image
Aniruddha Dhar
Updated On
New Update
Another Army soldier killed by Pakistani sniper along LoC in J-K; third in three days

Naik Gosavi Keshav Somgir. (ANI/Twitter)

Indian Army solider Naik Gosavi Keshav Somgir, 29, became the latest victim of sniping from across the border on Sunday. Somgir was killed by a Pakistani sniper along the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. This was the third fatal casualty due to sniping from across the border in three days.

Somgir was manning a forward post in Kalal area of Noushera sector when was shot by the Pakistani sniper, they said. Somgir, belonged to village Sri Rampur of Nashik district of Maharashtra. He is survived by wife Yashoda Gosavi.

"Pakistan Army resorted to an unprovoked ceasefire violation in Noushera sector on the Line of Control at about 1445 hours resulting in critical injuries to Somgir due to fire from across the border and succumbed to gunshot wound injuries," the defence spokesman said in a statement.

He said Somgir had served in the Army for 10 years and his death would not "go in vain". "The nation will always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," he said.

In a similar attack on Saturday, rifleman Varun Kattal, 21, was killed after he was hit by a sniper in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district. Kattal was a resident of Mawa-Rajpura area of Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir. The incident triggered an exchange of fire between the two sides which also left two BSF personnel injured.

A day earlier, an Army portar lost his life in a similar attack in Akhnoor sector.

On October 21, three soldiers of Jammu and Kashmir light infantry regiment and two heavily-armed infiltrators, believed to be members of the Border Action Team (BAT) of the Pakistani army, and terrorists, were killed in Sunderbani sector.

On November 6, a soldier was injured when he was hit by a sniper from across the border at Kalal in Noushera sector of Rajouri, while a BSF jawan was injured in a separate incident of firing by Pakistan along the LoC in the Manjakote area of the Rajouri-Poonch sector on Friday.

The number of ceasefire violations this year by Pakistan has been the highest in the past eight years. The first seven months of this year saw 52 deaths and 232 people getting injured in 1,435 ceasefire violations in the state, according to an RTI reply by the Home Ministry.

(With PTI inputs)

pakistan LoC Army Ceasefire Violation soldier J-K sniper Gosavi Keshav Somgir