A Pakistani drone fitted with a ready to be used Improvised Explosive device (IED) was shot down by the alert cops of Jammu & Kashmir police near Kanachak area of Jammu late Thursday night.
The drone, which a senior police officer claimed was assembled with spare parts from China,Taiwan and Hongkong, had penetrated approximately 6-7 kms inside the Indian territory before it was shot down near Gurah Pattan village of Kanachak area in Jammu. After the drone attack on Air Force Station, Jammu on June 27, 2021 the security of several vital installations was beefed up and anti drone technology was installed to prevent the similar strike.
Preliminary investigations of the drone assembly revealed, the strings used to drop the payload fitted with the drone was similar to the one recovered by the investigation agencies from the site of drone attack inside the Air Force station, Jammu on June 27, 2021.
Additional Director General of Police Mukesh Singh told reporters in Jammu, "so far 25 to 30 drone sorties have been detected and according to intelligence agencies at least Sixteen AK 47 rifles, 3 M4 US made rifles, 34 pistols, 15 grenades and 18 IEDs, 4 lakh currency recovered so far in the last 18 months".
Sharing details of the operation, ADGP Singh said, 'late Thursday night, we got specific inputs that a Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad was planning to drop some payload via a drone in Akhnoor sector. Singh said, Rs Rs We rushed a police party to maintain a strict vigil. At about 1 am, the drone was spotted in the Kanachak area and when it made a low flight to release the payload it was shot down by our policemen".
ADGP Mukesh Singh said the drone was carrying a payload of five-kg IED material in a semi-assembled state and only wires had to be connected to it to trigger a blast.“Preliminary analysis of the drone revealed that it was a hexacopter with six wings and a flight controller and GPS.”
Singh said the drone shot down in Kanachak was assembled with parts made in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. He added these drones can travel up to 20 kilometres with a payload of 10 to 12 kg. The aerial distance between the place where the drone was shot down and the border is about six to seven kilometres.
Security forces have fired at several drones since June 27, but this is the first time that police have shot down such a flying object carrying a payload. There is a difference of a digit between the flight controller serial number of the drone shot down on Friday and that of another brought down a year ago in Kathua’s Hiranagar sector.
“It establishes beyond doubt that the terror group has procured many flight controllers with similar series for the purpose of installing them in drones.” Responding to a direct question whether there was any common link with the drone attack on the Air Force Station Singh said as per preliminary investigations We have recovered the same threads and it is now confirmed that a similar drone had dropped the payload at IAF station. The National Investigation Agency is investigating the case, he added.