Pakistan uses drones to drop weapons at night across LoC in Jammu and Kashmir`s Akhnoor

Stepping up its desperate measures to create unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan is using drones to airdrop weapons across the Line of Control (LoC) in Akhnoor region of Jammu district in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police seized two AK assault rifles, one-star pistol, three AK magazines and 90 rounds of live AK 7.62 mm ammunition from a village in Akhnoor region.

Based on a specific input that some weapons were dumped by a Pakistani drone in a village at night a search was conducted at Niwala Khad near Akhnoor border, 35 km from Jammu.

In Jammu, drones have been seen on the border of Samba, Kathua, Hiranagar in the last few days. Pakistani drones have been seen on the borders of Samba, Kathua, Hiranagar coming inside India from Pakistan.

Pakistani drones circling inside the Indian border shows that Pakistan is planning to execute a major conspiracy in Jammu. The Border Security Force (BSF), Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police are monitoring this.

The festivals of Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali will be observed in a few weeks and Pakistan is trying to make something big happen during these festivals.

On September 20, Pakistan dropped weapons and some cash in Indian currency using a drone in Rajouri district, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh had said on September 19, announcing the arrest of three LeT terrorists who had picked up the consignment near the Line of Control.

Singh said the major success was achieved on Friday evening, following a well-coordinated joint operation by police and 38 Rashtriya Rifles in Rajouri sector of Jammu region, frustrating Pakistan's design to step up violence and disturb the prevailing peace in the Union Territory.

"All the three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were residents of Kashmir and had come to pick up the consignment, which was dropped by Pakistan on this side using a drone," the DGP, who was flanked by Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu Division, Mukesh Singh, had told reporters in Rajouri district.

The IGP informed this was the third successful operation in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch since September 11. Earlier, a huge consignment of arms and ammunition was recovered from two people in Balakote sector of Poonch three days later 11 kg of heroin worth Rs 11 crore, meant to fund terrorism activities, was seized in Rajouri district.

"Pakistan and its agencies always remain active and are making every effort to disturb peace and law and order in J-K. It is using drones to drop weapons and narcotics and also push terrorists from both Rajouri and Poonch districts, which had witnessed a spurt in ceasefire violations - almost on a daily basis," the DGP had said. However, he said the police, Army and other forces are working together to scuttle Pakistan's design and to maintain peace and law and order in the Union Territory.

"We are enjoying good operational synergy and the latest arrest of three LeT terrorists and seizure of a huge cache of arms and ammunition was its result. We received information about the movement of some suspicious people and accordingly launched the cordon and search operation," he had said.

He had said three people were seen moving with a bag and were challenged but they hurled a grenade, which luckily did not explode and the trio was overpowered. The search of the bag led to the recovery of two AK-56 rifles, two pistols, four grenades and Rs 1 lakh in Indian currency, which had smuggled from Pakistan to escalate violence, Dilbag Singh said it came to light that the consignment was dropped on this side of the LoC by Pakistan using the drone and the trio, who hail from Kashmir, had come to pick up the consignment. "Their interrogation is underway and further details will be shared later," he had said.

In response to questions, he said Pakistan is doing its best to revive terrorism in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri, which falls in Jammu division and were cleared of militancy over a decade back. "The people of Rajouri and Poonch are peace-loving and they will not allow Pakistan to succeed in its design. There are some elements with whom we will deal sternly," he had said.

He had termed the dropping of weapons through drones as a "big challenge" and said this is the first such aerial drop in the district through a similar attempt was foiled by the Border Security Force (BSF) along the International Border in Kathua district sometime back. "This is hilly terrain and drones just bypass the deployment on the LoC," he had said, adding that "we are vigilant to the threat and have taken necessary measures".

On the recovery of a large number of US-made rifles in the recent past, the DGP had said that "we have recovered such types of rifles like M-4 and M-16 in large numbers in the past as well. These rifles are duplicate weapons manufactured in Pakistan and are being smuggled by LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists".

The IGP had said on September 11, police and Army arrested two people and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition, including three pistols, 11 grenades, improvised explosive device (IED) material and a pen drive, frustrating terrorists plan to carry out target killings and blasts in Poonch district.

In another operation on September 14, one person was arrested with 7 kg heroin in Rajouri and later at his disclosure one more arrest was made from Kulgam district of south Kashmir.

Three residents of Poonch were also arrested and their questioning led to the recovery of 4 kg of heroin from the same spot from where the earlier consignment of 7 kg was dumped after smuggling from across the border, he had said. The IGP had said the money from the heroin was meant to support terrorism.