Few hours before Governor Banwarilal Purohit was scheduled to visit border areas to meet village heads, Pakistan launched a drone near the Kalanaur police station, raising alarms among security agencies.
Immediately following the sighting of the drone around 5 am, police officers and BSF officers began damage control exercises. The Governor was joined in the meeting by the Chief Secretary and the DGP, among others.
After nine rounds were fired by BSF security men, the contraption retracted. A drone was dispatched during the daytime for the first time by Pakistan, officers say. As the search operation was conducted, BSF DIG Prabhakar Joshi, who was on night duty near the International Border (IB), reached the spot and supervised it.
Pathankot was visited in the morning by Purohit, and Gurdaspur was visited in the afternoon. Sarpanches at both locations told him about problems they were experiencing, particularly in villages near the IB.
During a press conference, the Governor remarked that Pakistan should end its nefarious activities as soon as possible. The neighboring country is evidently engaged in a proxy war using drugs and drones. As soon as we deal with it, the better off we will be,” he said.
As well as illegal mining, he mentioned the recent Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling prohibiting excavation near the International Burma. Despite the Army and BSF’s clear warnings that extensive digging near the IB was a threat to national security, he said, “This is indeed a serious issue.”
Punjab is a sensitive state due to its long border with Pakistan, and all efforts must be made to ensure it remains “drug-free and drone-free.” He met earlier with village heads.