Punjab police, BSF conduct joint search in border districts against drone movement

The Punjab police along with the Border Security Force conducted an overnight 10-hour-long search operation in seven border districts, stepping up vigil against the movement of drones carrying drugs and arms from across the fence.

"Around 100 checkpoints were set up and nearly 2,500 police personnel led by IG and DIG-rank officials took part in the search operation," additional DGP (law and order) Naresh Arora said.

The operation took place at a time when Punjab, which shares 553 km of international border with Pakistan has been seeing a huge influx of consignments of heroin, arms and ammunition through drones and other means.

"The major focus of this operation was to keep vigil on the movement of drones carrying drugs, arms and ammunition, explosives and grenades in the border areas," according an official statement issued on Friday.

"This signals that major attempts are being made by anti-national elements to disturb the peace and communal harmony in the border state," the statement added.

Director general of police Gaurav Yadav in Chandigarh said the districts where the operation was carried out were Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka.

He also called for total synergy and teamwork between the state police and the BSF, which is tasked with securing Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is time that both elite forces work as one team to counter the new threat from across the border, he added.

Yadav said the operation included all-night nakas at around 100 places in the border districts, followed by special search and cordon operations of suspected houses and villages.

The SSPs of the seven districts mobilised maximum manpower for this operation, he said.