- Tuesday, March 04, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
A drone that was shot down by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) along the country’s international border with Pakistan in the northern state of Punjab last year had ‘footprints’ and was flown in China and Pakistan, a spokesperson of the force said on Wednesday (1), quoting a forensic analysis report.
The quadcopter was downed on December 25, 2022, near the Rajatal border post in Punjab’s Amritsar district.
A forensic analysis of the drone found that it flew in Fengxian district in Shanghai, China, on June 11 last year and later it was flown between September 24 and December 25 for 28 times “within” Khanewal district of the Punjab province of Pakistan, the spokesperson said.
A first-information report on the illegal activity of the drone and its shooting on the Indian side was filed by the BSF with the Amritsar district police last year, he said.
The BSF, which is tasked to guard the Pakistan border, has set up a forensic analysis laboratory for drones at a camp in the national capital.
A total of 22 drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) originating across from Pakistan were shot down by the BSF last year.
All these downings took place along the international border in Punjab.
According to official data, drone sightings along the 2,289 kilometre-long India-Pakistan border running along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat have increased from 77 sightings in 2020 to 104 in 2021 and more than 311 last year.
Almost 75 per cent of these sightings have been made in Punjab where drones have been majorly used by the other side to push in and drop drugs and arms.
(PTI)
