Major Chitresh Singh Bisht.

JAMMU: An Army major was killed and a soldier injured in a mine explosion along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.

Another trooper was injured in a ceasefire violation along the LoC in the district, they said.

Major Chitresh Singh Bisht was leading a bomb disposal squad team for sanitisation when mines were detected on the track in Naushera sector around 3 pm, a defence spokesman said.

He said the team defused one of the mines successfully but while neutralizing another mine, the device got activated and the officer suffered grievous injuries and attained martyrdom.

Another solider was injured in the blast and was admitted to a hospital, the officials said.

Major Bisht (31) belonged to Dehradun in Uttarakhand and is survived by his parents.

"The officer was a brave and sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," the spokesman said.

Earlier, the officials said the blast was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and was apparently planted by "enemy forces within Indian territory".

According to the officials, one soldier was injured when Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by targeting forward posts along the LoC in the Naushera sector, prompting retaliation by Indian troops.

The unprovoked firing of small arms from across the border started in Naushera sector around 4 pm and the exchange of firing between the two sides continued for quite sometime, they said.

The soldier was injured when he was hit by a bullet in Kalal area of the sector and was immediately shifted to a hospital.

The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively to the ceasefire violation by Pakistan but the casualties suffered by Pakistan in the retaliatory action was not known immediately, the officials said.

Since the beginning of the new year, Pakistani troops have been regularly violating the ceasefire, especially along the LoC in Jammu division.

A few incidents of ceasefire violations were also witnessed along the International Border (IB) in January.

On January 15, Assistant Command Vinay Prasad of the BSF was killed when he was hit by a Pakistani sniper from across the IB, while an Army porter lost his life along the LoC in Rajouri district on January 11.

The year 2018 had witnessed the highest number of ceasefire violations - 2,936 - by Pakistani troops in the last 15 years along the Indo-Pak border.

