Pak drone spotted on Punjab border, Returns after BSF fire

A drone from Pakistan was spotted close to the border near Punjab's Gurdaspur on Monday. After Border Security Force (BSF) troops fired several rounds, the drone flew back toward Pakistan.

The BSF and Punjab Police launched a joint search operation.

The drone was spotted near the International Border around 5 am in the area of BSF's Rosa Post BOP 89 Bn.

This is the third such incident in recent times. In the first six months of 2022, 107 drone sightings were reported in the area as opposed to 97 in 2021. Last year, 64 such cases were reported in Punjab and 31 in Jammu. Two of them were seen crossing the Line of Control in Jammu. This year, 14 drone sightings were reported in Jammu and 93 were in Punjab.

A senior BSF officer said most of these drones are used to deliver narcotics, weapons, explosives, and ammunition. Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said that 95% of the RDX coming through Punjab borders is via drones.

There are teams with anti-drone guns deployed at borders. The patrolling parties keep watch on any suspicious aerial activity and often they recover narcotics substances and arms delivered from these drones, said the BSF official.

Another BSF official told ANI that there is no effective anti-drone technology available to shoot down every drone crossing the border. But, ground troops keep an eye on drones or any aerial objects crossing the border. They are trained to shoot down unidentified UAVs. "Sometimes drones fly too high to get detected, we only detect it by their humming sound when it comes close to the ground," said the official.