Villagers spot Pakistan drone in J-K’s Jakh; searches underway

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Following the villagers’ discovery of a possible drone the previous day, the Special Operations Group (SOG) carried out a search operation in the border region of Jakh in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba on Sunday.

According to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, they began the search after receiving information from the locals that there may have been a drone in the area. “Pakistan carried out a drone plot in Samba. A search effort is in progress after we learned of a possible drone sighting from the local residents “DSP and SOG Gharu Ram stated.

According to defence officials, a Pakistani drone infiltrated Indian territory on Saturday night, causing a commotion among the local populace and security personnel.

The DSP added that the drone was seen at Sarathi Kalan, a border hamlet in the Samba sector, where it was spotted. The drone then returned from Chak Dulma to Haider Post in Pakistan after passing via the Pakistani villages of Dera and Madoon and Regal.

“While the aforementioned drone was flying at a height of at least one kilometre above the ground, the security forces, on the other hand, went to the scene and took stock of the situation and conducted the search operation in all the areas in the morning,” said DSP Gharu Ram, adding that Pakistan has made similar efforts numerous times in which it has dropped weapons and ammunition into Indian territory using drones.

In addition to executing the smugglers, the security forces also seized a shipment of firearms and drugs, rendering the operation a disaster.

As Gharu Ram further stated that the location is highly sensitive, “we together with the CRPF and J-K Police have begun a large search operation in that area,” the SOG of the Jammu Kashmir police also began a massive search operation in Bandrali, Jakh, and other nearby areas of Samba.

A Pakistani drone had previously been sighted close to the International Border in Gurdaspur, Punjab, on the morning of September. According to the report, after being shot at by Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers, the drone had flown back toward the Pakistani side.

In contrast to the 97 drones that were observed throughout the entire previous year, the BSF reports that as of July this year, 107 drones that were flying from the other side of the border had been spotted within Indian territory.

The BSF recorded 97 drone sightings along the International Border (IB) in 2021, with 64 of the incidents occurring in Punjab, 31 in Jammu, and two drones infiltrating from the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu.

Up to 107 drones were spotted along IB up till July 2022, including 14 in Jammu and 93 in the Punjab sector.

The majority of these drones, according to a senior BSF officer, are from Pakistan and are used to transport drugs, guns, explosives, and ammunition.

The BSF is responsible for policing the 198 kilometres of the India-Pakistan border in the Jammu area, which is part of Punjab’s 553 km long frontier with Pakistan.

According to a different BSF official, there is no effective anti-drone equipment available to take down every drone that crosses an international boundary, but their personnel on the ground keep an eye out for drones and other airborne objects that cross borders.

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