A junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) was killed and two Army jawans suffered injuries when a rocket allegedly fired from across the Line of Control (LoC) exploded near a forward post in Saojian area in bordering Poonch district, over 250 km northwest of Jammu city.

The Ministry of Defence spokesperson in Jammu, Lt Colonel Biplabh Nath, confirmed this and said the Army was ascertaining what actually happened. “Both the injured Army personnel have been evacuated from the spot and shifted to Military Hospital here,” he added.

The police have identified the JCO as Subedar Arun Palekar and the injured as Havildar Satish More and Sepoy Mahendra Singh. All belonged to the 8 Mahar Regiment.

Poonch SSP Manmohan Singh said the incident occurred on Sunday morning when a patrolling party led by the JCO was targeted near Mukhyari post in Saojian area of Poonch district. “However, it is not confirmed whether it was the fire of a rocket or mortar shells but it was fired from across the LoC,” he added.

However, sources said the rocket fired from Cobra Post of Pakistan hit near Mukhyari post in Saojian sector around 7 am.

The Army officials did not confirm the incident as a case of violation of ceasefire.