India protests over cross-border tunnel

Pictorial evidence handed over to Pakistani authorities at a flag meeting.

India lodged a “strong protest” with Pakistan on Tuesday over the discovery of a cross-border tunnel along the international border in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir, the Press Trust of India reported.

“A strong protest was lodged late this afternoon by the Border Security Force (BSF) with its counterpart, Pakistan Rangers, over the detection of a tunnel in the Indian territory from Pakistan along the International Border (IB) in Samba sector,” a senior BSF official told PTI.

Evidence was also handed over to Pakistani authorities at a flag meeting at Octroi Border Out Post (BoP) along IB in the R S Pura sector of Jammu district, the official said.

BSF authorities have provided pictorial evidence of the tunnel which is in straight alignment from Pakistan to the Chachwal border village via Chilyari post from Lumbriyal post in the Shakergarh sector of Pakistan. On July 28, authorities detected a 400 metre-long tunnel into India from Pakistan along the Indo-Pak Border in Samba district.

The tunnel was detected after an area caved-in in a straight line due to rains at some places close to the Chilyari BoP of BSF. The tunnel had been dug between two sides along IB on India’s Chilyari BoP and Pakistan’s Lumbriyal BoP.

With a population of over 2,000 villagers, Chachwal village is located barely one kilometre from the International Border and 65 kilometres from Jammu city.

Interestingly, it was a student, identified as Sukhdev, who first noticed that his farmland had caved in some places and subsequently informed BSF, PTI reported.

Authorities then dug out the tunnel at a depth of 25 feet below the ground level along the Indo-Pak border in Samba district.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2012.