Punjab: BSF guns down Pak drone near international border in Amritsar

Image used for representational purpose. Pic/iStock

Authorities in Punjab on Thursday said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have shot down a Pakistani drone near the international border in Amritsar after it sneaked into the Indian territory, reported the PTI.

The official told PTI that in a separate development, troops of the border guarding force seized more than two kilograms of heroin airdropped by another Pakistani drone in Tarn Taran district.

Around 9 pm on Wednesday, BSF personnel heard the buzzing sound of an unmanned aerial vehicle near Bhaini Rajputana village in Amritsar and opened fire on it, the spokesperson of the force said.

A joint search operation by the BSF and the Punjab Police was carried out, during which the drone was found in a damaged condition on a field adjacent to the Rajatal-Bharopal-Daoke tri-junction on the outskirts of the village, he said.

The recovered drone was a quadcopter of model DJI Matrice 300RTK series, the official told PTI.

In Tarn Tara, BSF personnel detected the drone coming from the Pakistani side around the same time on Wednesday near Wan village and intercepted it, the spokesperson said.

After a while, the troops spotted a suspicious motorcycle coming from Wan and signalled it to stop. Its rider, however, sped away towards Mari Kamboke village. The BSF troops chased the bike and found it abandoned in the village, he said.

The village was cordoned off and during a search, a packet wrapped in a yellow adhesive tape was found, the spokesperson added.

The packet was found to be a consignment of heroin weighing around 2.50 kilograms. It is suspected that the bike rider was carrying the packet after it was dropped off by the drone.

Earlier in December 2022, a Pakistan drone that entered India from along the International Border in Punjab was intercepted by BSF troops following which it fell on the other side. The drone was "downed" by Border Security Force (BSF) troops around 7:20 pm and it has been taken away by Pakistan Rangers, officials said. It was found lying 20 metres inside Pakistan territory opposite Indian border post Bharopal when a search was conducted on Wednesday morning, a BSF spokesperson said. "It hovered in the sky for a few minutes when counter-drone measures were taken, and fell while returning.Search is in progress to find if it dropped anything on the Indian side, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)