The Border Security Force (BSF) has started a weeklong exercise "Ops Alert" all along the Indo-Pak international border from Sir Creek to Rann of Kutch in Gujarat and Barmer district of Rajasthan in order to tighten security ahead of the Republic Day.
“Ops Alert exercise is being carried out to thwart any ill designs of anti-national elements during the upcoming Republic day celebrations. During this exercise special operations in forward and depth areas as well as Creeks and Harami Nalla would be carried out,” the BSF said in a statement. Besides, validating various operational procedures, public outreach programmes have also been planned during the exercise, it said.
The exercise which began on Saturday will conclude on January 27. The Indo-Pak border along Kutch in Gujarat is sensitive in view of a number of Pakistani nationals having been apprehended in the past after entering the Indian waters while moving on boats in the garb of fishing.
In 2022, the BSF apprehended 22 Pakistani fishermen, seized 79 fishing boats and heroin worth Rs 250 crore and charas worth Rs 2.49 crore from this region of Gujarat, according to official data.
Permanent vertical bunkers of concrete are being constructed for the first time to station BSF troops right at the strategically significant Sir Creek and Harami Nalla marshy area to strengthen security, officials said.
The Union Home Ministry has sanctioned Rs 50-crore for the construction of eight multi-storied bunkers-cum-observation posts in this area along the Bhuj sector to counter intermittent infiltration of Pakistani fishermen and fishing boats in the area, officials added.