Man on the roads: BJP leader Pradeep Sharma rescues injured during Poonch shelling
POONCH: 'Man on the roads'. This fits with BJP leader and former J&K MLC Pradeep Sharma for being very active and reaching out and rescuing those injured during the recent cross-border shelling from Pakistani troops in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.
'For four days, I and my team were on the road. We were visiting the place hit by shells and helping in shifting the injured to the hospitals,' Pradeep told this newspaper.
He said when the shelling began on the intervening night of May 6 and 7, he was woken up by his family. 'I could hear the loud explosions. I thought of doing something for the people caught in the crossfire to help them in this distressing situation'.
Pradeep decided to reach out to the population through social media.
'I went live on Facebook at 2.25 am and urged people to stay indoors and don't venture out. I told them to move to ground floors and not panic and stay alert,' the BJP leader said.
As the cross border shelling was going on, a shell landed in the Forest Department complex in the Poonch town, injuring a forester staying there.
'It was the first shell to land in the town. As the place was close to my residence, I alongwith my brother immediately reached the spot on a scooty and helped in shifting the injured forester to the hospital,' Pradeep said.
As the time passed by, more shells landed in different parts of congested Poonch city, damaging houses and causing injuries.
'I went to the Syndicate area of Poonch, where three members of Sikh community were injured in the shelling. I helped to get them shifted to the hospital. In the hospital, one of the injured succumbed to injuries,' Pradeep said.
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