In a joint operation by Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police, a six-wing drone carrying five kg heroin was shot down near the India-Pakistan international border in Amritsar on Sunday. Two people were also arrested in this connection while they tried to flee.
As per the Punjab Police, at around 4 am, a joint patrolling party of the Border Security Force (BSF) and Amritsar Police heard the humming sound of a drone and shot it down at the Lopoke area in Kakkar village, and seized five kg of heroin.
“In a major breakthrough, Amritsar Police, in a joint operation with BSF, have recovered a 6-wing drone after firing and bringing it down and seized 5 kg heroin from village Kakkar, which is 2 kms from the International border with Pakistan,” tweeted the state’s Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, adding that the drone parts were manufactured in US and China.
DGP said that this hybrid six-winged drone, worth Rs 10 lakhs, is assembled with parts manufactured in USA and China, and was equipped with hi-tech features including long-lasting battery backup and infrared-based night vision camera and GPS system.
“After noticing the drone movement in Indo-Pak border on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, Police teams from Amritsar Rural district immediately shared the pin-pointed inputs with the BSF and jointly conducted an intensive search operation in the area of Kakkar village, which is just two kms away from the Indo-Pak border,” he said.
DGP said that the Police teams had fired at least 12 burst-fires from AK-47 to shoot-down the drone.
“The ongoing war against drugs received yet another major breakthrough after Punjab Police, in a joint operation with Border Security Force (BSF), have shot down a sophisticated hexacopter drone loaded with five kg heroin during a search operation launched at area of Border Outpost (BOP) Kakkar on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday,” said DGP Yadav, adding that this is the sixth drone recovered in less than two months.
Sharing more details, Amritsar Rural Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Swapan Sharma said that the Police have rounded-up two persons from the spot when they were trying to escape.
Investigations are on to ascertain the identity of the Pak smugglers, who sent the consignment via drone, and also their Indian associates, who were to receive this air-dropped consignment of heroin, he added.
Meanwhile, a case, dated January 22, 2023, has been registered under sections 21, 23 and 28 of the NDPS Act and sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Aircraft Act at Police Station Lopoke in Amritsar Rural.
Earlier on January 19, two persons were arrested after a drone was caught at the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar. BSF seized around 6.150 kg of heroin, while three other persons managed to abscond.
According to the police, till now all the smugglers caught in smuggling are from Punjab.
In a similar incident from Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar, two were held for smuggling heroin to India from Pakistan through a drone. The incident took place on January 15.
Drones from the Pakistan side smuggle drugs and ammunition in India.
In another incident, the Border Security Force (BSF) seized four Chinese-made pistols among a consignment of weapons dropped by a Pakistani drone in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district on Wednesday.
The consignment, which included four Chinese-made pistols, eight magazines, and 47 live rounds, was recovered from Uncha Takala village in Gurdaspur on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.