A Pakistani drone carrying suspected narcotics has been shot down by the Border Security Force along the International Border in Punjab’s Amritsar, an official said on Tuesday.
The incident took place on Monday around 8:30pm in Chhana village of the district, a BSF spokesperson said.
This is the third such incident in the past four days at the Punjab front.
“Troops of 183rd battalion deployed at border heard buzzing sound of suspected flying object/drone entering from Pakistan into Indian territory in the area falling near Chhana village in Amritsar district,” the spokesperson said.
“As per drill, the troops tried to intercept the suspected flying object by firing. Bullet hit the drone due to which it fell down on the ground,” the spokesperson said.
A quad copter carrying about 2.5 kgs of suspected narcotics was later recovered from the incident area, he said.
On October 16, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carrying drugs was similarly neutralised at this front. The quad-copter drone weighing 12 kgs with four propellers was intercepted and shot down around 9.15 pm near the Rania border post in the Amritsar sector by the troops of the 22nd Battalion of the BSF.
A green-coloured packet was recovered from under the drone and it had two kg material, which is suspected to be narcotics, a BSF spokesperson said.
In the intervening night of 13-14 October, the BSF had shot down another quad copter Pakistani drone in Gurdaspur sector of Punjab.
During the search that followed, troops recovered a quadcopter (DJI Matrice) weighing four kilograms, a BSF statement said.
It said a wing-rod of the quadcopter was broken and there was a hold-and-release mechanism.
A nylon rope along with six reflector lights and a green strap were also found, the statement said, adding that a search operation was underway in the area.
17/10/2022@BSF_Punjab Frontier
At about 2030 hrs, alert #BSF troops shot down a Pak drone (Quad-copter DJI Matrice) near Village – Chhana in #Amritsar.
2 pkts of suspected #Heroin (Wt – appx 2.5 Kg) is also recovered with drone. #JaiHind pic.twitter.com/RNB5UQ3MuF
— BSF PUNJAB FRONTIER (@BSF_Punjab) October 17, 2022
BSF Director General Pankaj Kumar Singh on Wednesday had said the force was alive to the threat of drones and that it had been working to counter it.
The BSF guards India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. The total length of Punjab’s border with Pakistan is 553 kilometres.
