E-Paper
BSF announces cash reward of ₹1 lakh for info on smugglers using drones at Indo-Pak border
BSF announced ₹1 lakh cash reward for providing information about anti-national elements using drone technology for smuggling of drugs, arms and ammunition from across the border
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday announced a ₹1 lakh cash reward for providing information about anti-national elements using drone technology for the smuggling of drugs, arms and ammunition from across the border.
“Of late, drones are being frequently used by anti-national elements for smuggling of contraband and arms from across the border in Punjab. The BSF Punjab Frontier requests the general public to provide information and details of persons using drones for smuggling from Pakistan to India,” said a BSF spokesperson.
The BSF has also issued two contact numbers (9417809047, 0181-2233348) for the general public for providing the information. “Person whose information will lead to the arrest of the involved persons/personnel along with the seizure of drones will be rewarded by the BSF Punjab Frontier with ₹1 lakh,” the spokesperson said, adding that the identity of the person providing such information will be kept secret.
The BSF’s decision comes days after Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit’s series of meetings with Central and state security agencies in various border districts to tackle the drone threat from across the border.
“The injection of drugs into the state is no less than an act of war. It is a lethal assault against the people of Punjab. The supply of drugs to youth is a direct assault on our posterity, our future. We cannot let this menace hurt our state’s present or mar its future. The security and safety of the border areas can only be ensured with concerted and sustained cooperation of the people, state government agencies and Central government agencies at all levels,” the governor had said during his meeting in Amritsar on April 12.
The governor’s visit to the border districts was condemned by the opposition leaders as the Centre’s ‘intervention’ in state affairs. Last year, the Centre had increased the BSF’s jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km from the international border. The move to extend the BSF’s territorial jurisdiction had evoked a strong reaction from political parties in Punjab following which the state government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s decision.
The state’s political parties had termed the decision “an ill-conceived move” of the BJP-led government at the Centre in a bid to “indirectly rule the jurisdiction area”. On November 11, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had passed a resolution against the move, castigating the Centre for curtailing powers of the Punjab Police.
Earlier, on April 16, the Punjab Police busted a gang of Indian smugglers involved in the smuggling of heroin from across the border by using drones. The police had arrested three members of the gangs and two drones that were being used in Havelian village of Tarn Taran district for the smuggling of heroin. Police had claimed the arrested accused had been flying drones carrying sweets across the border to get heroin during their return for the last three to four months. The claim had raised a question mark on the working of BSF personnel guarding the international border.
