Now, spot Pak drones carrying drugs, weapons, get Rs 1-lakh reward

Shukla said that it was high time that both the forces should work in tandem to counter the drone operations at Punjab borders, which have emerged as the new threat. He stressed on the need to carry out evidence-based and proactive policing to prevent the smuggling of narcotics and weapons into Punjab from across the border.

The Special DGP asked the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of border districts to intensify the police force as a second line of defence which will help in preventing the collection of contraband dropped through drones by the criminals on the Indian side.

He also discussed the strategic locations and hotspots in border villages to install CCTV cameras to keep vigil at Indian nationals involved in the cross-border smuggling. He asked the BSF officials to share inputs of movements of suspected persons with the Punjab Police so that they can keep a sharp vigil on their activities and ensure penal action against those found involved in any criminal activity.

He also proposed to activate Village Defence Committees (VDCs) in the Border areas to counter the nexus between smugglers and criminals in the border areas. “These committees will work as eyes and ears of the Police and supplement the efforts of Punjab Police to wipe out drugs, terrorists and gangsters from the border state,” said special DGP Arpit Shukla.

Over 15 kg drugs dropped by Pak drones recovered by BSF

More than 15 kg of suspected narcotics was recovered by the Border Security Force (BSF) after it intercepted at least two drone sorties coming into India from Pakistan along the International Border in Punjab, a senior officer said on Wednesday.
The first interdiction took place just after midnight in Ramkot village of Amritsar when the troops heard the sound of a drone and subsequent dropping of payload on the ground.

Troops fired in the air to down the flying machine and simultaneously rushed to the spot where they saw three people trying to pick the consignment.

The troops asked them to stop and fired at them but they managed to escape leaving behind five packets containing suspected heroin, a BSF spokesperson said.

The second incident took place around 1:20 am in Kakkar village of the same district when a “rogue” drone from Pakistan violated Indian airspace.

The personnel fired in the air to shoot down the drone and a search of the area led to the recovery of five packets containing suspected heroin, the spokesperson said.

The total amount of heroin recovered in these two incidents is about 15.5 kg, he said.