Bathinda: As visuals of Pakistani drones flying over residential areas in Punjab’s Ferozepur flash on his TV screen, Vishal Atarwal in Bathinda breaks down in tears. He quickly dials home and hears his children crying. His mother is praying in the background, asking the children to gather around her.
“I can’t go there now, I have never felt so far from home,” says Atarwal, wiping his eyes. He had moved to Bathinda, leaving behind his wife, children, and parents in search of a better livelihood. “Now, I feel helpless,” he tells ThePrint.
Atarwal said his children were on the terrace when they suddenly heard loud noises and saw a “red glow in the sky”. “My parents ran upstairs and brought them down,” he says.
Atarwal, who runs a wine shop, is not alone. Several others in Bathinda are similarly stranded, away from their families. Gaurav Singh, another resident of Ferozepur, says things have become tougher now.
“I am constantly worried about the safety of my family and relatives in Ferozepur. I wanted to go home, but the elders told me not to come now. I am scared about what might happen to them,” Singh says.
Ferozepur SSP Bhupinder Singh said that information had been received about three people being injured in a drone attack, and officials are looking into the matter. He said the victims had sustained burn injuries. The three injured include Lakhwinder Singh, his wife Sukhvinder Kaur, and Lakhwinder’s brother, Monu.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated over the past 48 hours. On 7 May, India launched Operation Sindoor, targeting nine terror camps operated by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in response to the Pahalgam massacre on 22 April.
In retaliation, Pakistan has attempted drone strikes in multiple cities, including several in Punjab. Indian security forces have successfully thwarted these attempts.
According to defence officials, drones were sighted at 26 locations from Baramulla to Bhuj, along both the International Border and the Line of Control. Other locations include Srinagar, Ferozepur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Lalgarh Jatta, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Kuarbet, and Lakhi Nala.
Meanwhile, multiple cities across Punjab continue to remain under blackout. In Bathinda, the blackout was lifted after one and a half hours.
(Edited by Prashant)