Intelligence sources told India Today that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is readying drone centres to smuggle arms and drugs into India. In concert with the Pakistani Rangers, the country’s powerful spy agency has set up six such drone centres so far.
On the other side of the International Border (IB) in Punjab, the ISI has made the drone centres operational with the help of smugglers and terrorists. Sources in the Border Security Force (BSF) stated they have received intelligence that heightened drone activity is being noticed at several Pakistani border outposts across the IB from Ferozepur and Amritsar.
“Pakistan is using ‘dummy drones’ for weapons, drugs and explosives. Across the border near Khemkaran, smugglers fly drones with the help of Pak Rangers,” the sources said.
Terrorists and smugglers are loading explosives, arms and ammunitions in these dummy drones to evade Indian security forces and transport the contraband into border states like Punjab. They are increasingly using GPS-control drones for their nefarious operations.
In light of this threat, the BSF has sounded an alert regarding drone activity from the Pakistani side of the fence. It is also installing anti-drone systems at specific, sensitive points on the Punjab border. ‘Drone hunting teams’ have been deployed to shoot down enemy UAVs.
According to sources, 53 drone incursions were noticed on the border so far this year. Security forces shot down these Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on nine occasions and recovered explosives and drugs from them.
The BSF has reportedly seized about 1,150 kg of drugs at the Punjab border in the last three years. Between January and April this year, 150 kg narcotics, including a massive haul of heroin, was intercepted by the BSF.
