JAMMU: A senior government official was among five persons killed while several others were injured in heavy Pakistani shelling in Rajouri, Poonch and Jammu districts early Saturday, officials said.A Jammu and Kashmir bureaucrat and Additional District Development Commissioner Rajouri, Raj Kumar Thappa was killed in Pakistani troops shelling in J&K’s Rajouri. The Pakistani troops fired mortar and artilerry shells on border areas along Line of Control from Uri in north Kashmir to Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region during the night.A top bureaucrat Raj Kumar Thappa, who was Additional District Development Commissioner Rajouri was killed in the Pakistani troops shelling. He received serious splinter injuries after a shell hit his house. He was evacuated to hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.”Devastating news from Rajouri. We have lost a dedicated officer of the J&K Administration Services. Just yesterday he was accompanying the Deputy CM around the district & attended the online meeting I chaired. Today the residence of the officer was hit by Pak shelling as they targeted Rajouri town killing our Additional District Development Commissioner Sh Raj Kumar Thappa. I’ve no words to express my shock & sadness at this terrible,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah posted on X.With his death, the death toll in Pakistani shelling in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 17.Many residential houses and other structures in Rajouri, Poonch and Uri were damaged in the overnight shelling by Pakistani troops.The Pakistani troops have been targeting border areas at LoC and International Border in J&K after India launched Operation Sindoor to target and destroy terror infrastructure in Pakistan.Two more persons — two-year-old Aisha Noor and Mohd Shohib (35) — were killed and three others were injured in Pakistani shelling near an industrial area in Rajouri town, the officials said.According to the officials, a 55-year-old woman named Rashida Bi lost her life when a mortar shell hit her house at Kanghra-Galhutta village in Mendhar sector of Poonch district.Ashok Kumar alias Shoki, a resident of Bidipur Jatta village, was killed in cross-border firing along the International Border in the R S Pura sector of Jammu district, they said.Three more persons were also injured in intense shelling in Poonch and were evacuated to a hospital, they said.Several persons were also injured in Jammu city when artillery shells and suspected drones hit residential areas, including Rehari and Rupnagar.(With inputs from PTI)
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