Punjab CM urges Amit Shah to handle problem of 'drones' supplying arms from across border

Two days after a Punjab Police probe revealed use of drones to deliver weapons from across the border, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said this has added a "new and serious dimension on Pakistan's sinister designs" after abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

He urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to handle the "drone problem" at the earliest.

The Punjab Police on Sunday had claimed to have busted a terror module of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), backed by a group based in Pakistan and Germany. It said the terror group was conspiring to unleash a series of strikes in Punjab and adjoining states.

Initial investigation revealed use of drones to deliver weapons and communication hardware from across the border.

Singh on Tuesday tweeted, "Recent incidents of Pakistan-origin drones dropping consignments of arms & ammunition is a new and serious dimension on Pakistan's sinister designs in aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370. Request @AmitShah ji to ensure that this drone problem is handled at the earliest."

Four members of the terror module were arrested from the outskirts of Chohla Sahib village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab on Sunday. During investigations, it came to the fore that weapons and communication hardware were dropped using drones from Pakistan.

Five AK-47 rifles, 16 magazines and 472 rounds of ammunition, four Chinese-made .30 bore pistols, along with eight magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition; nine hand grenades, five satellite phones with their ancillary equipment, two mobile phones, two wireless sets and fake currency with the face value of Rs 10 lakh were seized.

The Punjab chief minister had on Sunday urged the Centre to alert the Air Force and the Border Security Force about the possibility of drones being used to supply weapons from across the border and also direct them to launch necessary counter-measures.

Punjab Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta had said that the weapons were suspected to have been delivered recently from across the border by the ISI, state-sponsored jihadi and pro-Khalistani terrorist outfits working under its command.

"The large-scale infiltration appeared to have been aimed at scaling terrorism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the Indian hinterland in the wake of the recent developments in the valley," Gupta had said.

Punjab government had also decided to hand over further investigations to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) , given the international links and ramifications of the conspiracy.