Amritsar villagers spend sleepless night

A majority of villagers living close to the International Border with Pakistan here said the experience of the last night was the most frightening for them as continuous sound of explosions kept them awake.

Many residents had stayed put, saying they had nowhere to go and feared the loot of their belongings in their absence.

Anil Kumar of Dhande village said bullets were fired from across the border, prompting the villagers to observe a complete blackout.

Gurjit Singh of the same village said only those families were shifting whose houses were located near the border fencing.

He said neither the Army nor the government asked them to leave their houses and it was their own decision to shift to a safer location.

Living just 1 km away from the barbed wire on the border in Dhanoe Kalan village, Balwinder Singh said villagers were scared when drones flew over their houses.

“They helplessly watched these drifting away in the sky,” he said.

According to him, the border tensions between the two countries completely stopped business and development activities in their area.

Punjab