The Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead two Indian smugglers in the Amritsar sector of the Indo-Pak border in a cross-fire on Monday. The smugglers, Harpal Singh and Ajay Pal Singh, were cousins and hailed from Pandori village in Amritsar.
IG BSF Punjab Frontier, Aditya Mishra said, "There were specific inputs about smugglers trying to push drugs into the country and troops had been put on high alert in the area of BOP Burj."
"On the intervening night of June 16 and 17, a BSF ambush party saw the movement of two suspicious men moving towards the fence from Indian side. As the men challenged the smugglers and asked them to stop, the smugglers fired on the BSF party. In retaliation, troops opened fire and both the smugglers were gunned down," said Mishra.
Later, a search operation was launched and a .32 bore revolver, five cartridges and a mobile phone with two SIM cards was recovered.
The BSF also launched a search operation across the fence and foot prints of two persons were found approximately 500-600 m inside the Indian territory in the general alignment of place of occurrence.
A cloth packing was also recovered, approximately 100 m inside the Indian territory. Probably two smugglers had come from Pakistani side too to push approximately a consignment of 10-15 kg heroin, claimed IG Mishra. He added that Harpal already faced criminal charges, whereas his cousin Ajay Pal had come from Canada.
{{/usCountry}}A cloth packing was also recovered, approximately 100 m inside the Indian territory. Probably two smugglers had come from Pakistani side too to push approximately a consignment of 10-15 kg heroin, claimed IG Mishra. He added that Harpal already faced criminal charges, whereas his cousin Ajay Pal had come from Canada.
{{/usCountry}}"Vigil has been heightened all along the border and that is the reason seizures are made. Rains do make patrolling tough, but the troops try their best to keep a close eye on smuggling activities."