New Delhi, April 29 (IANS) The Border Security Force (BSF) said it on Friday shot down a drone, coming from the Pakistani side, in Punjab's Amritsar sector.
According to the BSF officials, the drone had entered Indian territory in the area falling near village Dhanoe Kalan in Amritsar sector at around 1.15 a.m.
The BSF personnel, deployed at the international border, heard the humming sound of a flying object and as per the standard operating procedure, fired and brought it down. The whole area was cordoned off and police and other security agencies concerned were immediately informed.
An intensive search of the area was carried out and around 6.15 a.m., the search party recovered a black-coloured, 'Made in China' quadcopter (drone), model DJI Matrice- 300, near village Dhanoe Kalan.
The quadcopter had no payload when it was shot down.
The BSF officials also said that the entire area was again searched to ascertain whether the drone was carrying any payload and dropped it before it was shot down by the BSF troopers. So far, nothing has been found, they added.
Anti-India elements in Pakistan have been using drones for transporting arms and narcotics into India. Along the Punjab border, the drones have been used to send narcotics, mostly like heroin, while in Jammu and Kashmir, arms and ammunition have been recovered from the drone when it was shot down by the security forces, senior BSF officials said.
The ministry of external affairs organised the summit virtually on Thursday which was attended by the heads of all five Central Asian countries -- Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan.
Harcharan Bains, Principal Advisor to SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, shared documents pertaining to the reported abuse of the state intelligence wing by a private company, Movedek Politico. Bains said there are credible reports that the highest-ranked police officers of the state were asked to collaborate with the private company in intelligence gathering.
Two-time Member of Parliament and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann will be contesting from Dhuri in the February 20 polls in Punjab. The announcement was made by state affairs co in-charge Raghav Chadha in Mohali on Thursday.
The party alleged that family members of Charanjit Singh Channi, a leader of the Congress, are being targeted in order to create a perception and influence electors into believing that Sardar Charanjit Singh Channi through his family members and the Indian National Congress is involved in the allegations of money laundering.
National carrier Air India will commence normal operations to US from Friday, the airline said. On Tuesday, the national carrier said that it will not be able to operate a number of US-bound flights due to the deployment of 5G communications in the US.
Terming the nomination of Mann as a stage managed non-event, the SAD President said AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal never wanted to make Mann the face of the party in Punjab.
