Fifty-two people were killed and 232 injured in ceasefire and border violations in Jammu and Kashmir in the first seven months of the year, the Home Ministry has said in response to a Right to Information query. The ministry reported 1,435 such violations between January and July – 490 along the International Border with Pakistan and 945 along the Line of Control, according to PTI.
The number is higher than the violations in both 2016 and 2017. There were 971 such violations in 2017 and 439 in 2016. The number of people killed was 31 in 2017 and 26 the year before, according to the data.
Those killed this year till July included 28 civilians, 12 Army personnel and 12 personnel of the Border Security Force, the RTI response showed. During this period, 140 civilians, 45 Army personnel and 45 BSF personnel were injured. The Army guards the Line of Control and the BSF mans the International Border.
Sulekha, the director of the Home Ministry’s Jammu and Kashmir affairs, had responded to the RTI query filed by activist Raman Sharma.
Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre had earlier told the Rajya Sabha that there were 942 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control until July 23 and 490 instances of cross-border firing as of June.
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