Punjab borders favourite route of Pakistan arms smugglers: Data

Mukesh Ranjan

New Delhi, February 5

The cases of arms and ammunition seizure by the BSF along the International Border (IB) in Punjab have gone up drastically between 2019 and 2021.

According to the data shared by the BSF reveals that in Punjab, there were only seven cases of arms haul in 2019, which shot up hugely to 42 in 2020 and continued an upward trend in 2021 with 58 cases. A BSF officer said in January, troopers guarding the border reported three such cases.

The data reveals there were only 11 cases of arms haul from border areas of Jammu and Kashmir under the jurisdiction of the BSF in 2021. No such case has been reported from there this year so far.

The officer said no arm seizure had been reported from the Rajasthan and Gujarat during this period.

Elaborating on the reasons for Pak-based operatives choosing Punjab borders to push arms and ammunition into India, another BSF officer said, “The use of drone has made things easier for them. There has been a massive rise in such cases detected by the BSF.” Last year, security forces witnessed a new trend that drones carrying arms and drugs could carry more payload. Drones used in 2021 were much more advanced than the ones used in 2019-20, he said.

The officer said the BSF had been gearing up to deploy technology-based counter-drone measures to deal with the menace.

During a press interaction last month, Pankaj Singh, Director General of BSF, had also acknowledged these threats. “It is a cause of worry since the Taliban cadre is now free and they have weapons. We are alert and in touch with our sister agencies,” Singh had said.