Smoke billowing from across the border sends ‘alert’ here

ATTARI: Much confusion prevailed among security officials at Attari International border with Pakistan on seeing the heavy plumes of smoke billowing from across the border in Pakistan on Monday morning.
An alert was sounded in the apprehension of some terrorist attack or a mishap at Wagah (Pakistan) but the confusion was cleared up when it was known the smoke was billowing from the burning of seized drugs by the Pakistan customs department at Wagah, Pakistan.
“On seeing thick clouds of smoke lingering in the sky, our first impression was of some terrorist attack across the border or a major fire incident , in any case, we had be alert, “ said Border Security Force (BSF) sources while talking to TOI on Monday.

However, when probed, it was revealed that Pak customs had put the seized drugs and other contrabands to fire.
Sources informed that normally Pakistan customs burn the seized drugs every year on January 26 to mark the International Customs Day at Wagah, near Indo Pak international border.
“In normal circumstances, they (Pak customs) inform their Indian counterparts in India to rule out any confusion but this year Pak customs consigned the seized drugs to flames today ( July 19) and didn’t inform us, “said sources.
Sources further informed that due to non-movement of cargo or passengers across the Attari/Wagah international border the communication between the two departments had also come to a halt.
When asked Public Relations Officer, Punjab Frontier, BSF, Kuldeep Singh informed that they had observed the fire and smoke in the general area of Pakistan customs across the border. However, Kuldeep said BSF didn’t know the exact cause of the fire or what material was burning.