Chandigarh, December 21
The international border in the Punjab sector remained active during the night intervening December 20 and 21, with the Border Security Force shooting down a drone near Amritsar and seizing 25 suspicious packets near the fence in Fazilka area after opening fire on suspected smugglers.
In the early hours of Wednesday, at about 1.50 am, BSF troops observed a suspicious movement of smugglers on both sides of the border fencing in the area falling near Gatti Ajaib Singh village in Fazilka district, BSF officers said.
The BSF troops immediately fired at the Pakistani smugglers ahead of the border fence. However, the smugglers managed to escape taking advantage of the dense fog. The area was cordoned off and the police and other agencies were informed.
During initial search, BSF troops recovered four packets of the contraband, suspected to be heroin, wrapped in yellow tape from ahead of the fence on our side of the border.
Further, during detailed search of the area, the BSF troops recovered 21 packets of contraband, suspected to be heroin, wrapped in yellow tape along with a 12-ft-long PVC pipe and a shawl ahead of the border fence.
In the second incident, a drone entered India from the Pakistani side at 7.20pm on Tuesday in the area of responsibility of Daoke border outpost in Amritsar sector.
It hovered in the sky for a few minutes as counter-drone measures were taken by personnel of the 144 Battalion, BSF officers said.
The drone was spotted having fallen in the Pakistan area, about 20 metres in their territory opposite the Bharopal border outpost, on Wednesday morning. Search of the area is in progress.
