HINDUSTAN STANDARD, NOVEMBER 30, 1971
ARMY CROSSES HILI, BALURGHAT BORDER
TO SILENCE P AK GUNS
By A Staff Correspondent
Indian troops crossed the borders and entered two miles inside Bangladesh on Monday and silenced Pakistani guns which had been shelling the Hili and Balurghat areas since Saturday.
It was essentially due to the Indian military action inside Bangladesh that border towns of Hili and Balurghat did not experience Pak shelling on Monday.
Tanks and artillery are being used in the battle but no aircraft has so far gone into action. The Pakistanis, who threw a squadron of 14 tanks in the battle lost three on Saturday and one on Sunday. One Indian tank was damaged when struck by an antitank mine.
In the encounter, at least 160 Pakistani soldiers have been either killed or wounded. Casualties on Indian side are officially stated to be 35.
Tarun Ganguly reporting from Patiram near Balurghat says that this call gave the people of the town an opportunity to get themselves and their belongings shifted to adjoining areas beyond the range of the Pak artillery.
Men, women and children were seen moving to safer zones in West Dinajpur and Maida districts. Authoritative sources said that already 25 per cent of the town’s population had shifted to safer zones. Through the officials were providing the people willing to migrate with transportation facilities there was no official plan for a large scale evacuation from the area.
The schools and colleges in Balurghat are closed as a safety measures. In Hili several houses are riddled with bullets and gaping chasms caused by heavy artillery fire from across the border.
Fighting has been going on since Saturday morning in Bangladesh territory about two miles from the border in the Hili and Balurghat areas of West Bengal according to the Government spokesman in New Delhi.
“According to latest reports” an official Note said on Monday evening, “Pakistani troops on Sunday mounted a counterattack on Indian troops which had taken defensive action on Saturday following heavy Pakistani shelling of civilian areas in West Dinajpur district of West Bengal. The fighting is still going on.”
HEAVY FIGHTING AT FENI
The spokesman said India did not provide air cover to her ground forces in the Balurghat fighting, “Normally, we do not send our aircraft to support our ground forces but if Pakistan uses Air Force then India would also certainly use her Air Force.”
It was when Pakistan used Air Force in support of her ground forces in the Boyra sector India used her Gants which shot down three Pakistani Sabre Jets he said.
Meanwhile reports reaching Mujibnagar suggested that the Mukti Bahini was maintaining its three pronged thrust on the Jessore Cantonment. There is, however, a comparative lull despite the fact that the Mukti Bahini and the Pakistani troops were engaged in sporadic clashes for the control of vital supply channels in the area.
Heavy fighting between the liberation forces and the Pakistani troops were reported from Feni facing the Indian border town of Belonia in Tripura. Reliable reports said that Pakistani troops were under heavy pressure as the Mukti Bahini launched offensive for the control of the Feni town.
Incidentally, four Indians kidnapped by the Pakistani troops from a border village Konarghat near Sunna were rescued by the Border Security Force personnel an official report received at the State police headquarters in Agartala said.
The rescue was made after an hour long heavy exchange of fire between the Pakistani troops and the BSF.
Ten Pakistani troops were reported to have been killed in the encounter.
On the night between November 27 and 28, Pakistani troops shelled our posts north of Gangarampur and north of Patiram in West Bengal. The BSF returned the fire. There have been no casualties on our side. Pakistan casualties are not known.
On November 26, Pakistani troops fired on a BSF patrol north-east of Basirhat. No casualties have so far been reported. In Tripura, Pakistani troops and BSF patrol exchanged fire west of Sonamura on November 27. Some Pakistani casualties were reported. There were no casualties on the Indian side.
On November 26, there was an exchange of fire west of Radhakishorepur. There were no casualties on the Indian side. The same day Pakistani troops fired small arms and medium machine guns on an Indian post north-east of Kamalpur. No casualties were reported.
Mukti Bahini have hoisted Bangladesh flag over Panchagar railway station in Dinajpur district and steps have been taken by the Bangladesh Government to establish civil administration in the area according to the Panchagar MNA.
In the Sylhet district freedom fighters liberated Chotakhel south-west of Jointiapur yesterday following a fierce battle in which the “occupation” army suffered heavy casualties. Heavy fighting was now going on at a place only 19 km away from Sylhet town according to the latest reports.
Freedom fighters yesterday resized Taherpur PS and encircled the Suchana outpost. They continued their thrusts on Companyganj and Salutikar areas and were forcing Pakistani soldiers to seek refuge to Sylhet town. All communications between Sylhet and Sunamganj has already been cut off.
Heavy fighting was now going on in and around Kamalpur outpost in Mymensingh district. The Bangladesh commandos had already circled the outpost and foiled the “enemy’s” attempts to seek reinforcement.
Mukti Bahini guerillas have burned down a Government owned Jute warehouse at Nandina in Mymensingh, UPI reported quoting the martial law authorities in Dacca.
The action resulted in the destruction of about 14,000 US dollars worth of jute. Three mills were burnt down last week.
Freedom fighters have also maintained steady advance in the Tangail area and consolidated their hold on four check posts in the district.
Delayed reports from Dacca said that freedom fighters blew up a strategic bridge at Kodalia an important road junction disrupting road communication between Dacca and Tangail.