E-Paper
Indian Army fires at suspected Pakistani drone along LoC in J&K’s Rajouri
Indian Army troops fired at a suspected Pakistani drone near the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.
Army troops opened fire on a suspected Pakistani drone late Saturday night near the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. The drone briefly hovered over Indian territory before returning to the Pakistan side, reported PTI quoting officials.
Despite an extensive search of the area in the Keri sector, no suspicious items were found on the ground. Officials reiterated concerns about anti-national elements exploiting drones to smuggle weapons and narcotics into Indian territory but assured that security forces are fully prepared to thwart such attempts.
Read: Man ‘honey-trapped’ into sharing vital info on DRDO's drones with Pakistan's ISI; held
A flying object with a blinking light was also spotted in the sky near Allahpir area of Poonch district on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. Police along with security forces searched the area and found nothing on the ground, the officials said.
Meanwhile, in Punjab's Amritsar district, the Border Security Forces (BSF) recovered a China-made DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone in a harvested field of village Havelian.
"On 12th May 2024, based on an information provided by BSF intelligence wing regarding presence of a drone in border area of district Amritsar, BSF troops immediately launched an extensive search operation in the suspected area," BSF PUNJAB FRONTIER said in a statement.
Read: BSF data: Four-fold rise in Pak drones seizures at Punjab border in a year
"During the search operation at about 05:35 pm, the troops successfully recovered 01 drone in a harvested field of village- Havelian of District Amritsar," the force said.
"The recovered drone is identified as China made DJI Mavic 3 Classic," they said.
"Reliable input of BSF intelligence wing and timely action of BSF troops once again proved their commitment to plug the entry of illicit drones from across the border," the BSF added.
Read: Pak drone recovered from field in Tarn Taran
This recovery marks the second such incident within two days, with the previous one involving a drone carrying a packet of suspected heroin.
According to a statement from the BSF, the incident occurred on May 11 during the night hours, when the security forces noticed the movement of a drone in the border area of Amritsar. The troops tracked the drone's movement and cordoned off the likely dropping zone.
“At about 11:40 pm, BSF troops successfully recovered 1 small drone along with 1 packet of suspected heroin ahead of a border security fence in a farming field in village Havelian in district Amritsar,” the Public Relations Officer of BSF said.
“The recovered packet (gross weight- 498 grams appox) was wrapped with yellow adhesive tape and 1 torch and 1 nylon loop were found attached to the packet. The recovered drone is a quadcopter (Model- DJI Mavic 3 Classic, made in China),” the PRO added.
