266 drone infiltration attempts by Pakistan in 2022: BSF
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New Delhi: There have been 266 attempts of drone infiltration by Pakistan along the India-Pakistan border in 2022 and it has more than doubled compared to last year.
Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) Pankaj Singh said an increase in incidents of drone intrusion has been recorded along the border, especially in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. He added that in 2020, 79 such incidents were recorded and the number increased to 109 in 2021.
215 cases of drone infiltration were reported on the Punjab border and 22 cases were reported in Jammu. "An increase has been recorded in the smuggling of narcotics, arms and ammunition, counterfeit notes, etc. across the border through drones," said Singh.
BSF is also facing challenges with various types of high-speed drones because there is little to no information available about them. The force has successfully shot down many such drones. Sources claim that training and help to operate these drones are provided to the smugglers by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has set up a state-of-the-art laboratory at a camp in Delhi to study drone forensics to deal with this problem. Singh claimed the results have been encouraging. "The security agencies could track the flight path and address of the criminals involved in this cross-border illegal activity."
"The BSF has been at the receiving end of the drone menace for quite some time. The versatility of the drone, which is very well known, has been posing problems to us with nefarious elements have found new uses of the drone due to its anonymity and quick flight at sufficient height bypassing the frontiers," said the official.
BSF has realised that these drones have chips similar to computation devices like those on computers and mobile phones. The agency's forensic analysis has found drones' flight paths, launching and landing points, timings, GPS (global positioning system) coordinates, and even messages they have exchanged. "We realised there was an information mine. If we could get into this, we could find the suspect's addresses, locations, and much more."