"I was also out and had just entered my house when the shells hit the village. It looked like an earthquake as whole of my house shook," said Mohammad Hussain. The same shell that killed Easa had exploded just outside Hussain's house.

There are just 11 families residing in this small Andow village that is just two km away from the main Kargil town. Despite being located so close to the district headquarter, the village is very backward. The only narrow road reaching here had been closed two weeks ago because of landmines but the authorities did not bother tosend a dozer to clear the road.

The villagers had fled after the shelling intensified in May but returned only a few days ago thinking that the temporary halt in Pak shelling may be permanent. "Easa was very scared of shelling and had fled to Trespone. He had returned on Friday to save whatever crop remained," said Easa's grandfather Ali Zada.

Soon, the few villagers residing in the villager gathered at Easa's house to condole his death. In the compound, a few youngsters cooked rice for the mourners.

Eldest in the family, Easa has two young brothers and a sister. His father Ali Asgar is a labourer. "It was a compulsion to return to our village though we knew it is dangerous," said a tearful Asger. "We had to collect grass for our goats and also do whatever bit of farming is left otherwise we will die of starvation during the winter months," he added.

The village is an excellent example of government apathy towards the region. Till recently, there was no school in the village. A primary school wasopened in the area some time back, but that too is not functional as it doesn't have a teacher. Hussain has decided to flee the village once and forever. "I am going to sell-off my cow and migrate to any other safer place," he said.

The villagers, who are mostly labourers, would work during the summer months and save some money to buy ration for the difficult months. But this year, if they survive shelling, they feel starvation will definitely kill them in winter when the area gets cut off from the rest of country.

Ironically, neither the DC Kargil Shallen Kabra nor the Minister for Works, Kamar Ali Akhoon, who is camping here, visited the family on Saturday. After the villagers informed the police of the incident, a team of policemen came to inform the villagers that the body had to be taken for a post-mortem to Kargil. Such was the police's lack of sympathy that the villagers, who had lifted the body on a stretcher, had to walk half-a-kilometre to reach the police vehicle.

Meanwhile, Pak artilleryguns resumed pounding the National Highway 1-A between Drass and Kaksar. Around 100 shells landed along the road. However, no one was hurt in the shelling.