Punjab: BSF recovers huge cache of drugs, arms from Indo-Pak border

BSF troops opened retaliatory fire at the smugglers sneaking into Punjab's Gurdaspur from Pakistan. Forces recovered two pistols, six magazines and hundreds of rounds of live ammunition, along with the suspected heroin, on Saturday.

Gurdaspur (Punjab): Border Security Force (BSF) Jawans recovered 20 packets of drugs, suspected to be heroin, a piece of 12-ft long PVC pipe, two pistols, one Chinese make and the other from Turkey, six magazines, and 242 Pakistan-made live ammunition during the small hours on Saturday.

The said contraband was recovered from Khasawali village in district Gurdaspur at 5.30 am. Sources said the BSF jawans posted there noticed some movement near the border fence during a routine patrol. As the patrol party moved to check the borders, the smugglers opened fire at the BSF.

The BSF jawans opened fire in retaliation at the smugglers from Pakistan side. However, the smugglers have managed to escape taking cover of the dense fog. The entire area was rounded up and the local police were informed about the encounter and a search operation was launched.

During the initial search, the jawans recovered 20 packets all wrapped with yellow tape. The BSF officials suspect the substance smuggled it to be heroin. The other recovered items include a 12-ft-long PVC pipe, two pistols, six magazines, and 242 live rounds of ammunition. The smugglers tried to inert the recovered pipe from the other side of the border, BSF sources added.

Police said a thorough search is underway in the neighbourhood. Earlier, the BSF spotted a suspected Pakistani drone near the Adia post here. BSF troops fired toward the drone. Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV) have emerged as a major source of smuggling arms and ammunition, as well as drugs into India.