India Air Force 'bombs' Rajasthan village
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, Feb 15, IRNA -- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has denied the incident, but a local resident, Dost Ali of Doshe Khan ki Dhani, has lodged an FIR with the police, claiming a plane flew over his village on Friday and dropped a bomb on his farmland.
He claimed that the bomb destroyed crops and partly damaged his house. He claimed that he was about two kilometers away from the spot at the time of the incident. No one was injured.
Satyadev Arhada, the police officer in charge at the Mohangarh police station, confirmed the incident, reported leading Indian daily TOI today.
"These days exercises involving bombing set targets are going on at the Changad firing range. Ali, who lives close to Mohangarh canal, reported that on Friday morning an IAF fighter dropped a bomb that landed in his field, damaging the crops and his house. We have examined the field. It looks like the damage has been done by a bomb."
The police said it was the second such incident in the last week, the first being on February 7 at Tadana village, 70 km from Jaisalmer and 50 km from the Pakistani border. The bomb landed near a cluster of 50 houses in a field close to the firing range. It left a four-foot-wide and five-foot-deep crater.
Defense ministry spokesman Col N N Joshi denied the entire sequence of events. "We are aware of an FIR having being lodged suggesting that a bomb had fallen on the field of a local. But we are not aware of any such thing. All stray incidents are recorded by IAF but in this case there are no records," he said.
He also denied any possibility of these bombs belonging to the army that has a base in the area.
Rishal Singh, additional SP of Jaisalmer, also confirmed the incident. "A bomb has landed in a field near the firing range of the air force. We have received an FIR in this regard and our inquiries are on."
He added, "About five to six bighas of the gram fields of Dost Ali have been completely burnt. Even his pucca house, next to the field, has been damaged. In the FIR, Ali has alleged that on Friday at about 11.30 am when some aircraft were flying above his field, a bomb fell, damaging his property."
In New Delhi, an IAF officer said, "All our weapons are accounted for and none of our aircraft were flying in that area at that particular time as mentioned in the police report."
The denial should add to the mystery about the bomb. Sources said since the area borders Pakistan and is one of the most sensitive zones in the country, IAF radars are on high alert round the clock.
They discounted any possibility of any other aircraft intruding into Indian territory without being noticed.
Defense authorities have sent a report to the local police which is investigating the matter. "It's for the local police to verify the authenticity of the claims," the officer added.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 355520
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