PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 10

A day after an improvised explosive device (IED) along with hand grenades were found at a border village here, the Border Security Force today reported drone sighting in the Mullankot border outpost area.

The border outpost is a few kilometres from Bachwind village, where the explosives were reportedly dropped by a drone on the intervening night of August 7-8.

SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana said a massive search operation was carried out in the border belt today, especially in villages near the Mullankot border outpost, but nothing suspicious was found.

The SSP said as the Independence Day celebrations were round the corner, the Punjab Police had been working as the second line of defence by keeping vigil in the border villages to thwart any untoward incident.

“We have been working in close coordination with the BSF, which is our first line of defence. Tackling the cross-border movement of unmanned aerial vehicles is the biggest challenge in the present times and we are taking preventive measure,” he said. Sources said officials of the police and BSF today held a meeting to devise ways to handle the challenge posed by the drone movement.

“As there was no technical way to counter the problem, emphasis has been laid on identifying and arresting their forward links who come to retrieve the weapons or drug consignments,” sources added.

Last month, the State Special Operation Cell had confiscated a consignment of 48 foreign-made weapons, which were also dropped by drones, the investigations revealed.