Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said India was making all attempts to free the Indian soldier who was captured by the Pakistani Army after he inadvertently crossed the disputed Kashmir border on Thursday, reported The Indian Express. Singh held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and officials of Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Border Security Forces to review the security situation along the Line of Control, PTI reported.
Singh said the Centre will take up the matter with Islamabad for an early release of the 37 Rashtriya Rifles soldier, Chandu Babulal Chauhan. However, Pakistani diplomatic sources told the newspaper that the soldier was captured at Jhandroot, west of Mankote. He was reportedly kept at the Army headquarters in Nikayal.
The soldier was captured only hours after the Indian Army announced that they had carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan to foil an infiltration bid. However, Islamabad has held that the no such incident had happened and that New Delhi was rebranding usual cross-border firing as surgical strikes.
At the meeting, Singh is believed to have told the officials to step up the vigil along the borders with Pakistan. The BSF has also suspended all civilian activities along the International Border with the neighbouring country. The government has initiated an evacuation drive as well, to move people living in villages close to the borders to safer places, anticipating retaliation from Pakistan.
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