Pakistani drone recovered in Punjab's Amritsar district

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A Pakistani drone was recovered by the Border Security Force (BSF) on the outskirts of a village in Punjab's Amritsar district on Monday, an official told news agency PTI.

The BSF, acting on specific information, carried out a search operation around 7:20 am and found the broken unmanned aerial vehicle near a gurdwara in Shaidpur Kalan village, the official told PTI.

It was a quadcopter of the DJI Matrice 300 RTK series.

"During the search, a drone in completely broken condition along with an attached string to carry payload, was recovered from the farming field adjacent to the village. The recovered drone is a Quadcopter of model DJI Matrice 300 RTK series," BSF said in a statement.

On June 11, the BSF and the Punjab Police had recovered a Pakistani drone from a field in Tarn Taran district.

According to officials, acting on specific information, a suspicious farmer was identified and was further apprehended.

"During questioning, he revealed about hiding a consignment and on the basis of his lead 02 suspected contraband packets wrapped with yellow colour adhesive tape were recovered from the border fence near Bharopal village," BSF said in a statement.

Meanwhile, on June 10, the BSF seized more than 5.5kg of heroin airdropped by a Pakistani drone near the international border in Punjab's Amritsar.

The Border Security Force troops noticed the movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle coming from the Pakistan side at around 4 am Saturday and immediately moved to intercept it, a spokesperson of the force told PTI.

The sound of something heavy falling was heard in a field in Rai village and the troops launched a search at the spot.

During their search, they found a packet containing narcotics wrapped in a yellow adhesive tape and with a hook, said the spokesperson.

"On June 10, at around 4 am BSF troops deployed at the border reported an Indian space violation by a drone coming from the Pakistan side. Troops also heard the sound of something having fallen in a farming field in depth area near the Rai village in Amritsar. As per the laid down drill, BSF troops immediately reacted," the Public Relations Officer, Punjab Frontier, BSF said in a statement.

During a subsequent search of the area, one large packet suspected to be contraband, wrapped in a yellow colour adhesive tape attached with a hook was recovered by the BSF troops from the farming field on the outskirts of Village-Rai, the PRO statement added.

On the opening of the big packet, 5 packets of heroin weighing approximately 5.5 kg were found wrapped with yellow colour adhesive tape, the PRO said.

Another nefarious attempt of Pakistan to smuggle contraband items was foiled due to the alertness of BSF troops in the Amritsar Sector, it further said.

Earlier on the intervening nights of Thursday and Friday, the Border Security Force (BSF) troops recovered a Pakistani drone along the International Border near Rai village in the Amritsar sector in Punjab.

The BSF team was joined by the police in the search operation in which one large packet, suspected to be contraband, wrapped in a yellow-coloured adhesive tape was recovered from the farming field on the outskirts of the Rear Kakkar village in Amritsar. A green colour nylon rope and a hook attached to the packet were also found.

When the large packet was opened, five packets of heroin were found in it weighing 5.26 kilograms, the BSF said.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)