A villager with a part of the rocket. (PTI)

New Delhi, July 5: When a rocket flew in across the border and exploded in a Punjab village last night, the BSF immediately suspected shelling by Pakistani forces.

But it turned out that the shell had been fired by the Taliban at a Pakistani Rangers’ post and had overshot the target. The incident has deepened fears that the war in Pakistan is inching ever closer to the Indian border and may spill over into India.

Unconfirmed reports received by Indian intelligence say militants attacked the Rangers’ K.S. Wala post in the Lahore sector around 10-10.30pm. At roughly the same time, an Indian villager was injured in a rocket explosion in a paddy field at Dundi, Amritsar sector, near the Wagah border.

As the BSF sent a protest note to Pakistani officials, its personnel in the Pulkanjari area of Punjab reported that a shell had also exploded on the Pakistani side and formed a crater.

“The Pakistanis were even seen erasing the evidence, afraid that wrong signals may reach Islamabad,” a BSF source told The Telegraph.

An intelligence official said: “We are trying to collate intercepts to get more details on what exactly is happening (on the Pakistani side) and what is the threat perception for India (through a spill-over).”

Earlier yesterday afternoon, another incident served as a pointer to the chaotic state of affairs just across the border. A 23-year-old man was gunned down by the BSF at the Rodanwala post near Attari.

The man had come running in from the Pakistani side and climbed up the first line of fencing. He was trying to climb the second line when he was shot and fell on the concertina fencing.

The Rangers accepted, after some initial reluctance, that the man was a Pakistani. The BSF suspect he was a criminal or a militant being chased by the Pakistani forces.