More than 200 students were caught in the Pak shelling that targeted schools in Jammu and Kashmir..
Ganya village near the Line of Control or LoC wears a deserted look. Almost the entire village flock have abandoned their homes to escape the shelling by the Pakistani Army.
For the last four days, Ganya and many other villagers near the LoC have been the target of Pakistani army guns. Many houses in these villages have been badly damaged, lives stock have been the worst hit.
Terrified by shelling from Pakistan, hundreds of villagers from these villages have moved to migrant camps set up by the administration at Nowshera, 260 kms from Srinagar.
While India has responded strongly to the ceasefire violations from Pakistan, it's the common people living near the de facto border who are caught in the heavy exchange of mortar shelling.
On Tuesday, more than 200 students experienced the horror when mortar shells from across the border landed at their schools.
17-year-old Vikas Chowdary was in his classroom in Nowshera near the Line of Control when mortar shells from Pakistan hit his school. "I cant explain the horror of shelling. I thought we all will die. Our teachers tried to console us - it was very traumatic time," recounts Chowdary.
Geeta, who studies in Class 11, was also stranded with her five-year-old sister Sneha in the school during shelling. "I thought we will never come out of school. For hours firing continued it was very scary," said Geeta.
Her sister, Sneha, however is too young to understand why there was firing and loud explosions outside her school. "After firing we hid inside. Then my father came and picked me from school," said Sneha.
Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir have come under intense shelling from Pakistan. All schools near the LoC in the region have been closed indefinitely to avoid casualties.
"We have closed all the schools near LoC. It was most challenging task to evacuate school children amid heavy firing," said Dr Shahid Iqbal, District Magistrate of Rajouri.
While the army has responded strongly and targeted several Pakistani positions, 5 soldiers have been killed by the shelling in the last 4 days including an officer.