BSF foils Pakistan's attempt to air-drop weapons; ingressing drone sent back packing

Alert troops of Border Security Force (BSF) deployed along the International Border in Gurdaspur district of Punjab foiled Pakistan’s bid to Air-Drop weapons. “At around 12:53 am, troops noticed a humming sound in the air and as the area was covered with fog and light was also noticed in the sky; troops fired upon the drone and it went back to the Pakistan side. No bullet hit the drone as it was flying high,” an official privy to the development said.

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BSF foils Pak's attempt to air-drop weapons

“Though the drone was pushed back in a timely fashion, we cannot rule out the probability of weapon dropping and to rule out the same, intensive searches have been launched in the areas nearby International Border. We have also asked the heads of villages to inform us in case they notice any suspect in the area,” Official added.

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This is the second attempt by Pakistan in the last 5 days to drop weapons using a drone in Gurdaspur district of Punjab. Earlier, on 19-20 December, Punjab Police mounted a search operation immediately after receiving information from the BSF about drone movement across the Indo-Pak border in Gurdaspur district. BSF personnel deployed at BOP Chakri in Gurdaspur sector had noticed a Pakistan drone entering Indian territory around 11:30 pm, and BSF troops immediately fired multiple shots in an attempt to bring down the drone.

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A search and combing operation was mounted in the area on Sunday morning, leading to the recovery of a plastic box containing 11 Arges-84 Hand grenades from near Dhussi Bandh, in the area of Salach village, PS Dorangla. The box of hand grenades had been attached with a wooden frame and lowered from the drone to the ground with a nylon rope. Austrian in nature, the Arges Type HG 84 series anti-personnel fragmentation hand grenade, is a conventional hand grenade system designed to inflict massive damage against soft targets within its blast radius, spraying shrapnel out to a distance of 30 meters at speed.

Barely 48 hours after the recovery of 11 HG Arges 84 hand grenades, the Punjab Police on Tuesday recovered an AK-47 rifle and a magazine with 30 live cartridges, evidently a part of the same consignment that was dropped by the Pak drone in BOP Chakri (PS Dorangala) area in Gurdaspur district on Sunday.

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