NEW DELHI: Stating that Pakistan’s nefarious acts of pushing infiltrators into India and encouraging terrorist elements had made the western frontier very sensitive, Border Security Force (BSF) director general Rakesh Asthana on Tuesday said the BSF had foiled many such anti-India designs in the recent past, creating a sense of despair among cross-border intruders and smugglers.
“BSF would like to assure the countrymen that all attempts by the anti-national forces will continue to be defeated by our alert personnel,” Asthana said in his address at the BSF’s raising day ceremony held at Chhawla camp here.
BSF, which guards the nearly 6,386-kilometre-long border with Pakistan and Bangladesh, has grown from just 25 battalions in 1965 to 192 battalions at present.
Recalling recent incidents of drones being sent across the western border to smuggle weapons -- including one in June 20, 2020, when a drone carrying a payload of weapons was shot down by BSF near the IB in Kathua -- the BSF DG declared that the force was trying to find technical solutions to tackle the drones.
Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi, in a congratulatory tweet on BSF Raising Day, said the “BSF has distinguished itself as a valorous force, unwavering in their commitment to protect the nation and assist citizens during natural calamities”. Home minister Amit Shah too tweeted: “BSF has lived its motto of ‘life-long duty’ with valour. On the 56 th foundation day I salute all the brave soldiers of the force for their service and dedication to the nation”.
MoS (home) Nityanand Rai, who took the salute at the Raising Day parade, said in his address that the ceasefire violations from the western border were being reported every other day, besides attempts at infiltration and smuggling weapons and narcotics. He said the BSF’s alert response to these challenges in the face of adverse weather and circumstances was “admirable”.
Hailing the supreme sacrifice made by 1,922 BSF personnel so far in the line of duty, Asthana said the “prahari parivaar”, or the BSF family would always stand firmly with their kin.
Recalling the foiled infiltration bids this year as well as the discovery of an infiltration tunnel in Samba in the wake of killing of four freshly-infiltrated Pakistani terrorists in Nagrota, Jammu last month, the DG said BSF was fully geared to neutralise all such infiltration attempts from the western border.
Asthana also recalled how BSF had similarly foiled attempts to smuggle in arms across the northeast border in a bid to re-activate insurgent outfits in the region. As many as 29 AK-series rifles and 8,000 rounds of ammunition was recovered in the operation on September 28 this year.
While conceding that Covid-19 had hit BSF too, Asthana said the recovery rate of the force has been 99.6%.