Search on for Pak intruders in Rann

The search parties have tracked the footprints for 150 km inside Indian territory. The camels seem to be heavily laden with goods because their hoof marks are deep. Besides, the intruders are well-versed with the topography and took zig-zag paths to confuse the “pugees”, sources said.

Two years ago, detection of similar footprints in the Rann near Lakhpat in western Kutch had led to the arrest of some ISI-trained men, along a haul of RDX, and arms and ammunition.

“We are trying to track them down. They now appear to be in the dry part of the Rann on the western side,” Kutch Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh said.

A well-placed source in a security agency said they suspect that one of the infiltrators is Junas Miyanji, an ISI-trained Pakistani agent, who has a thorough knowledge of the Rann. Sources said Miyanji, who belongs to Khavda, worked as an informer for Indian military intelligence before he was won over by the Pakistanis in 1993. Along with his family, Miyanji secretly went across and settled at Fat Farm, an ISI base in Tharparkar district of Sind, the sources said. Later, Miyanji’s name cropped up during the investigation into the seizure of over 25 kg RDX from Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh in 1998. It turned out that he had accompanied the RDX consignment up to Bhuj, before safely returning to Pakistan.

What had strengthened their suspicion about Miyanji’s presence among the infiltrators was the routes they have taken to escape detection by the security agencies and the local population, the sources added.

Throughout their long journey, the infiltrators are mostly choosing dry, hard land to travel on. Also, after walking a few kilometres forward, they retrace their steps to confuse the police and security agencies. They travelled only at night, resting during the day in the shrubbery-infested Banni area.

Sources said a villager from Chhachla had a chance encounter with the three infiltrators late one night. He has told the agencies that they sought road directions and then vanished into the darkness.

For the security agencies, it is a very difficult operation. They have to work mainly during the day because the hoof-marks of the camels can’t be seen at night and every time they lose the trail, they have to comb a large area to pick it up again. Compounding the problem is the extreme heat in the Rann. So far, four policemen and three civilians have fainted during the search.

On August 22 also, three men had crossed the border and come about 25-30 km inside the Indian territory, but had gone back on finding the Rann marshy and water-logged, the sources said.