BSF continues record seizure of contraband in 2015

PK Jaiswar

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 30

Even as the Border Security Force (BSF) maintained its spree of record seizure of drugs from over 550 km of the porous India-Pakistan border, nonetheless it remained in news for other reasons also.

While the year 2015 was marked by the golden jubilee celebrations of the raising of the BSF, the largest border-guarding force of the world faced questions following the terrorist attack in the Dinangar area wherein the terrorists captured a police station and were involved in a gun battle with the Punjab Police. The Punjab police, though, killed the terrorists in a fierce encounter, but not before sacrificing its four jawans, including an SP-rank official and three civilians.

The Punjab police had pointed out that the terrorists had come from across the border fence, a charge which was later refuted by the BSF after holding a probe. BSF officials had categorically denied that the militants had crossed the international border in Punjab.

On the positive side, alert jawans of BSF confiscated around 344 kg of heroin from the international border, which was the second major seizure in the past five years. Last year, it had seized 361 kg of contraband. It had shot three Pak smugglers while an Indian smuggler was also killed during smuggling attempts. It recovered over Rs 11.50 lakh of counterfeit currency, 17 weapons, 24 magazines and 286 rounds. It also seized 15 Pak mobiles and 28 Pak Sim cards which are used by smugglers on both sides of the border for smuggling purposes.

Besides, drug abuse remained a major issue in the border state. At one time, many political leaders in the ruling alliance had accused the BSF for the mess, as they alleged that the force had failed to curb smuggling. The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal had even held an anti-drug rally at the Attari grain market, but at that time, it avoided to directly blame the BSF.

The stringent measures and the zero-tolerance attitude adopted by the BSF has forced Indo-Pak smugglers to change their tactics. They are devising new ways to sneak in contraband. They used a pair of leather slippers, found abandoned near the IB, smuggling a small quantity of drugs instead of 1kg packets and using the sling method by packing heroin in the form of a thin and long tube.

The year ended with yet another controversy after a Canada-based NRI banged his SUV into the gate of international border at the Attari-Wagah joint check-post. Investigations are continuing while family members of the NRI, Surinder Singh, repeatedly claimed that he was suffering from an acute psychiatry problem and was under treatment.

The year also witnessed a number of civic action programmes by the BSF and prominently among these were awareness programmes in border villages against rampant drug abuse. The BSF also trained girl students in martial arts and educated them in self defence. The force is credited with forming a second line of defence by involving the border people with them in its fight against drug abuse.