Bathinda: A 6-month-old Dachshund has been barking non-stop since a loud blast Thursday night left him so shaken. He refuses to eat or sleep.
The sound of the explosion that rattled the home of 68-year-old Gurjant Singh in Bathinda’s Tungwali village, along with the falling debris and glass from the walls, jolted his family awake.
As panic spread, Singh asked everyone to stay together and not step outside. No one left the house until security forces and the media knocked on their door Friday morning.
That’s when they saw the damage. Shrapnel had pierced through the family’s tractor and shattered glass was scattered across the verandah, a stark reminder of how close the explosion came to the Singh family.
Singh’s granddaughters broke into tears but Singh pacified them, saying they should start praying.
“The minute I heard the noise, I knew what it was, but I didn’t tell them. I just asked them to keep praying for us and everyone protecting us. It is only in the morning when I stepped out that I saw the impact,” Singh told ThePrint.
Security forces and police officials collected the shrapnel and other debris.
Since then, an eerie silence has settled over Tungwali. A sense of shock lingers in the air as villagers huddle in the shade near their fields. They speak in hushed tones—many quietly contemplating whether it’s time to leave, even as others ask them to be brave.
Government sources said that at least four attempted strikes by Pakistan were thwarted by Indian security forces in Punjab’s Bathinda with its air defence systems. Pakistan made similar attempts in parts of Jammu, Rajasthan and Punjab Thursday night.
On the night of 6-7 May, in a calculated retaliatory move in response to the Pahalgam massacre, where 26 people were killed by terrorists, Indian security forces launched Operation Sindoor, striking nine terrorist complexes in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Since then, Pakistan has resorted to unprovoked firing and even made attempts to attack Indian military installations along the western and northern sectors.
Meanwhile, Bathinda district authorities have informed the public about two emergency control room landline numbers. Key hospital installations are being exempted from blackouts with certain conditions.
“There is a separate group created for all vital installations for immediate coordination. The institutions have also been shared with the control room numbers. Response teams are alerted and in touch with the control room for any direction,” Showkat Ahmad Parray, deputy commissioner of Bathinda said to ThePrint.
“Additionally, misinformation is being tackled by way of our social media handles on Facebook and X. Moreover, regular press briefings are being conducted to disseminate correct information,” he added.
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Fear, panic & prep
Back in Tungwali, Mandeep Kaur, Singh’s 36-year-old daughter-in-law, is torn.
“You tell us, you are from the media. Is it time to go back to our relatives and maternal pinds? Have never seen anything like this. We are worried about our children,” said Mandeep.
Not everyone shares her fear though.
“Why should we leave? There is nothing to fear. Our jawans are working hard to protect us. We should just brace ourselves,” said 35-year-old Jaspreet Kaur from Tungwali, while making rotis.
Around the same time as the blast in Tungwali, another loud sound was heard in Beer Talab village.
A sand sack now covers the area where the remnants of a projectile had pierced through.
“We first thought that it was from behind. My son and I were both awake and just talking. The back door of the house had closed with a slam,” said Angrez Singh, 65.
“I hurried to see what was happening and then I saw something lying on the ground. The fire was almost doused. Just as I was hurrying to the front, there was another sound and something bigger had fallen on the ground.”
The projectile had hit the ground less than 100 metres from Angrez Singh’s house. His six-year-old granddaughter, Gudiya, tried to come out to check it out with her grandfather but her mother stopped her.
“We are still coming to terms with how close this was. No one has slept even for a minute since then. I have been sitting outside since last night. Today too, I will sit outside and keep a watch so that I can alert my family to hide under the bed or run out of the house,” he said.
Meanwhile, villagers across states sharing borders with Pakistan are stockpiling everything from diesel for tractors to oil and other essentials.
Villagers no longer sit together in the night chatting because of the blackouts, but stay locked indoors instead.
At the wholesale mandi near Akalia Kalan village where debris was found a couple of days ago, Joginder Khalsa sits with his sword.
“This mandi provides a livelihood to hundreds. Since the attacks started, I stopped sleeping inside. I sleep during the day and stay up all night so that I can send out alerts if something happens,” said 72-year-old Khalsa.
Curious to know more about the debris on the ground, locals huddled close to it in a bid to take videos. That is when an explosion happened and one person died and eight others were injured, according to the police.
“People are all stocking up all daily goods. There are rumours here and there that prices might increase which is also why people are rushing to the stores,” said the sarpanch, Pawan Kumar.
Standing beside him, 62-year-old Jaspal Kaur, mother of two men who had retired after serving in the Indian Army, said, “There is a fear of the unknown. People have stopped spending too much time in the fields even during the day.”
“We don’t visit our neighbours and stay indoors as much as possible. We haven’t seen anything like this before. But we are all ready to fight for our country in whatever way possible,” she added.
In the field, daily wage labourer Guddi, her sisters and her granddaughters dig in and clean up the leftover debris. “What can we do? We are poor. The landlord said he will pay us.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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