CHANDIGARH: A drone was shot down today by the Border Security Force (BSF) in the Gurdaspur sector of Punjab on the Indo-Pak international border. At least 170 drones have been spotted by the BSF entering Indian territory from Pakistan this year alone.
Sources said that a drone was spotted at 4.35 am at the Rosa Post BOP by the 89 battalion troopers of the BSF in the Gurdaspur sector. The troop who were patrolling the area immediately opened fire and shot down the drone.
A search operation was launched in the area to check if any consignment was dropped by the drone. As it was suspected that the drone was carrying a consignment from Pakistan. There was no information on what was inside the consignment.
"Our troop who were on patrol duty fired at the UAV which entered Indian territory, damaging one of the blades. The drone is found to have come from Pakistan. We are investigating for more information," said an official.
This year alone around 170 drones have been spotted by the BSF which entered the Indian territory in the Punjab sector from the neighbouring country of these more than ten drones have been shot down by the troopers of the BSF deployed along the India-Pakistan border to keep a tab on such illegal activities.
"Drone incidents near the Punjab border have increased. These drones are mostly used to drop drugs and weapons inside the Indian territory,’’ said an official.
Last month also, the BSF foiled a drone intrusion after it was spotted near the Indo-Pak International Border in Gurdaspur. As the jawans fired several rounds of bullets and forced it to retract back to Pakistan.