E-Paper
Pak hexacopter carrying 5kg heroin downed in Amritsar
The Amritsar rural district’s police have gunned down a sophisticated drone using AK-47 rifles, which had sneaked two kilometres into the Indian territory from the international border for smuggling heroin.
The Amritsar rural district’s police have gunned down a sophisticated drone using AK-47 rifles, which had sneaked two kilometres into the Indian territory from the international border for smuggling heroin.
With the gunning down of the hexacopter, the police recovered 5kg of heroin which was kept in two cloth bags further tapped with yellow adhesive tape.
The incident took place at around 4:30 am when a team of Lopoke police station’s police was patrolling in Kakkar village based on a tip-off. The operation was led by the deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Attari, Parvesh Chopra.
“As soon as the tip-off was received, a dedicated team with adequate weapons was deployed in the area to keep a vigil on the suspicious activities. At around 4:30 am, a humming sound was heard from the Pakistan side. The team opened fire towards the sound, and it appeared something was shot down,” the DSP said.
He further said, “An extensive search operation was launched, and we recovered a six-winged drone from a field. We also recovered 5kg of heroin which was being smuggled by the drone.”
The police have also rounded up two persons who were found to be roaming in the area at the time of the incident. “The apprehended persons are suspects, and we have yet to establish if they were involved in the smuggling activity,” the DSP said.
A police official, privy to the development, said, “The drone contains a mark of Effort Tech— a Chinese company making drones, especially for agriculture purposes. It can carry a load of 15kg at a time. The drone contained a GPS, a night vision camera and a general camera.”
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said in a tweet that the drone was assembled with its parts manufactured in USA and China.
Yadav said eight rounds were fired from an AK-47 rifle while four rounds were fired from a .9mm pistol when the drone was downed.
Senior superintendent of police (rural) Swapan Sharma said the police have registered a case under Sections 21, 23 and 28 of the NDPS Act and Sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act against unidentified persons at the Lopoke police station.
Police sources said the drone will be sent to a forensic lab for its technical investigation.
6 drones recovered in 2 months
November 29, 2022: A hexacopter drone carrying six packets of heroin, weighing 6.68kg, was recovered in the jurisdiction of Border Outpost (BOP) Harbhajan in Khemkaran, Tarn Taran
Nov 30, 2022: A broken quadcopter drone was recovered from the area of village Van Tara Singh in Khalra, Tarn Taran
December 2, 2022: A hexacopter drone carrying five packets of heroin, weighing 5.60kg, was recovered from the Khemkaran area in Tarn Taran
Dec 4, 2022: A quadcopter drone loaded with three packets of heroin, weighing 3.06Kg, was recovered from the area of Border Outpost (BOP) Kalia in Tarn Taran
Dec 25, 2022: A DJI series USA made Hi-tech drone, worth ₹20 lakhs, recovered along with 10Kg heroin by the Amritsar Rural Police
January 22, 2023: A hexacopter hi-tech drone carrying 5Kg heroin was recovered from the area of BOP Kakkar in Amritsar Rural
