Page 39 - 31OCT2019E

security

The seizure of arms cache is a pre- ly after entering into the Indian territory, BSF authorities if they spot anything
cursor to Pakistan up to it old practice soon thereafter, returned to Pakistan. unusual near the zero line.
of creating chaos in Punjab. The intelli- BSF officials had also informed Pun- In the meanwhile, Chief Minister
gence agencies have submitted a report jab Police about a third Drone which was Amarinder Singh said the incident has a
to the Ministry of Home Affairs in this seen entering into Indian Territory last new and serious dimension to Pakistan’s
connection stating that a large number week. However, the police failed to trace sinister designs in the aftermath of the
of AK-47 assault rifles and grenades were any drone. A Pakistani drone was also abrogation of Article 370. The Chief Min-
dropped in Amritsar in Punjab by drones seen on October 1, 2019 in Fazilka sector. ister urged the Union Home Minister to
in September. On August 13, 2019 too a Pakistani drone tackle the problem at the earliest.
According to intelligence agencies, was found crashed inside paddy field in Tagging Union Home Minister Amit
eight sorties have been detected so far Muhawa village in Amritsar. The police Shah in a tweet from his official handle,
and these weapons were meant for ter- on September 25 had recovered remains Capt. Amarinder wrote, “‘Recent inci-
rorists who could use them to create of a charred Pakistani drone from Jhabal dents of Pakistan-origin drones drop-
trouble in Jammu and Kashmir in the area in Tarn Taran. ping consignments of arms & ammuni-
aftermath of abrogation of Article Police investigations have found that tion is a new and serious dimension on
370. The report has raised questions the terrorists of Khalistan Zindabad Pakistan’s sinister designs in aftermath
on the vigil by Border Security Force of the abrogation of Article 370. Request
stating why the force was not able @AmitShah ji to ensure that this drone
to detect the presence of any drone The Union Home problem is handled at the earliest.”
activity along their area of operation. Union Minister of State for Defence
Again last week, drones were detect- Ministry has asked Shripad Yesso Naik said that “India is
ed in two more locations in Punjab at the Border Security capable of dealing with it and there is no
Hazarasingh Wala and Tendiwala issue of concern.”
villages in Punjab. Force to adopt The Army and Border Security Force
An official statement by the Pun- anti-drone mechanism (BSF) had even sounded an all-out alert
jab government said it had recovered along the entire Indo-Pak border and
two drones used in dropping weapons aimed at preventing Line of Control (LoC) following reports
from across the border during the last any intrusions on the of the drones. According to information
two months. An official spokesman said divulged during their interrogations, the
one drone was recovered in August and western border which drones landed as a result of the drones’
another was seized in the burnt condi- is guarded by the height and weight following which the
tion in September from Jhabal town in militants destroyed the carriers or hid
Tarn Taran. paramilitary force them. The GPS-fitted drones capable of
The BSF sighted two high-flying lifting up to 10 kg flew in from Pakistan
drones along Punjab’s Hussainiwala sec- seven to eight times to airdrop the cache
tor, days after police recovered Pakistani Force (KZF) and Khalistan Liberation of arms, ammunition and fake currency
drones used to airdrop arms and ammu- Force (KLF) had at least used four drones seized in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district,
nition in border areas of the state. to send supplies of weapons and ammu- according to a probe by Punjab Police.
The BSF personnel sighted the drone nition besides the counterfeit currency. State Director General of Police
four times on the Pakistani side, while In view of these incidents, the security Dinkar Gupta had pointed out that initial
once it was seen almost a kilometer agencies, Border Security Force, police investigation revealed that the weapons
inside the Indian territory, a BSF official and military intelligence are keeping were suspected to have been delivered
said. an eye on the movement of Pakistani recently across the border from Paki-
Official sources alleged that Pakistan drones. The police and Army authori- stan over drones launched by Pakistan’s
is hell-bent on pushing militants into ties have said that any suspicious drone ISI and the State-sponsored Jihadi and
India besides making attempts to drop found venturing into Indian Territory pro-Khalistani terrorist outfits work-
arms and ammunition in Punjab after will be shot down. ing under its command. The DGP
the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu To avoid any mix up, the people have observed that “The large-scale infil-
and Kashmir. Following the heightened been warned in the border villages tration appeared to have been aimed
security along Indo-Pak border, Paki- to not to use drones during weddings. at scaling terrorism and militancy in
stan-based terror groups are now using The police have banned flying drones Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the
Punjab as a place to dump supplies of near military and Air Force stations. Indian hinterland, in the wake of the
arms, ammunition, narcotics and coun- The BSF has also started sensitising the recent developments in the Valley.”
terfeit currency. border area residents to inform the
In these cases, the drones, immediate- police or letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 31 october 2019 39 www.Tehelka.com