Amritsar: Pakistan Rangers not only refused to hand back the Border Security Force (BSF) jawan ‘captured’ by it on Wednesday but shared no information of his whereabouts. Constable Purnam Sahu of the 182 Bn BSF was guarding farmers tending to their fields across the border fence along the Ferozepur sector of Punjab when he accidentally stepped across the International Border (IB).
The farmers reported that Pakistan Rangers immediately surrounded him. They disarmed Sahu, tied his hands behind his back, before dragging him away. Till now, only two images have been shared on social media. One of them shows Sahu standing with his hands tied behind his back. His INSAS Rifle, three magazines, bulletproof vest and a few other items are seen lying near his feet.
Another image shows a blindfolded Sahu sitting inside a vehicle in between two uniformed persons. His head is slumped to one side. Officials suspect that he may have undergone physical torture.
The incident occurred barely a day after 26 people, most of them tourists, were massacred by terrorists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir. Tensions flared between the two countries immediately after that with investigators identifying at least three Pakistani terrorists among those involved in the killings.
“Incidents of accidental stepping-over take place regularly. Such matters are immediately resolved through flag meetings and the person returned to his country. The Pakistan Rangers have not heeded to our requests for a flag meeting. We don’t even know where he has been taken,” a senior BSF official said.
Sahu’s family from West Bengal’s Hooghly district are praying for his safe return. “He was serving his country. So far as we are aware, he caused no harm to anybody. He should be sent back to India,” his father Bholanath Sahu said.
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