Panic struck Kishtwar on Tuesday after fighter Apache helicopters hovered over the district, amid mounting tense between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.
Locals said the helicopters flew over the main town during the day on several occasions before disappearing in the mountains. A resident said the helicopters started sorties late in the night and the operations continued till this evening.
He said a fighter helicopter make several sorties over the town. “People came out on their rooftops and many rushed to the helipad area where security personnel had erected barbed wires,” said the resident.
He said people panicked apprehending that “something has happened along the LAC in the wake of reports about firing during night hours on in Ladakh border.”
Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar Harmeet Singh termed the helicopters were on routine operation. “Apache Helicopters are new and hence these were the training sorties. They were on a training session,” the SSP said.”
A defence official said the helicopters were taking sorties as a part of an exercise amid the tense situation along the LAC with China.