Suspected smuggler shot at by BSF near Attari border

Hospitalised with bullet wound in shoulder; suspected of being at the border to clear drug or weapons consignment amid dense fog in the morning

A suspected smuggler was injured when Border Security Force (BSF) personnel opened fire near the Attari-Wagah border on Thursday morning.

BSF sources say the movement of suspects was noticed across the barbed wire fence and before the zero line at the border, too. The suspects managed to escape due to the fog cover. (HT file photo)

A BSF official requesting anonymity said that Mandeep Singh, a resident of Dhanoe Khurd village in Ajnala sub division of Amritsar district, was hospitalised with a bullet injury on the shoulder after the incident at 8.30am.

BSF sources said Mandeep was accompanied by an accomplice who managed to escape, taking advantage of the zero visibility due to the fog. Mandeep is suspected to be roaming near the border to clear a drug or weapons consignment.

They said the movement of suspects was also noticed across the barbed wire fence and before the zero line at the border. The suspects from across the fence also managed to flee due to the fog.

Mandeep is being questioned and efforts are on to ascertain the identity of his accomplice.