Day after foiling intrusion bid, BSF seizes 21-kg heroin

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 13

Within 24 hours of three Pakistani intruders, the BSF today seized 21 kg heroin worth Rs105 crore in the Amritsar sector.

Anil Paliwal, BSF IG, Punjab Frontier, said: “Around 3.20 am, some suspicious movement was noticed near the international border falling under the Narlie BoP. The night patrolling team saw some Pakistani smugglers near the fence who started throwing packets towards the Indian side. When the troops challenged them, they opened fire. The troops retaliated, but the smugglers managed to flee.”

He said during a search, 21 packets of heroin weighing a kg each, one loaded shotgun (Beretta, made in Italy) and three bullets (WAH Industries Ltd, Pakistan) were seized.

JS Oberoi, DIG, BSF, pointed out that “Shabir” was inscribed on one side of the Italian weapon, most probably signifying the owner’s name and its bullets had “Made in Pakistan” stamp. "Keeping tabs on the cross-border drug smuggling is a challenge for the BSF. But repeated attempts of intrusion from Punjab and Jammu side testify that anti-national elements are desperate to enter India,” he said.

Pak nationals handed over to police

The three Pakistani youths, who were nabbed by the BSF from the Ajnala sector under suspicious circumstances during a search operation yesterday, were handed over to the police today. The police have booked them under section 3/34/20 of the Indian Passport Act, Section 14 of the Foreign Act and Section 188 of the IPC for entering prohibited area.

They were identified as Shehzaad of Lahore, Ali Raja of Narowal and Babbar Ali of Shekhupura. Sources said they had claimed that they came to attend a marriage in a village bordering India, but crossed the prohibited borderline by mistake.

Manmohan Singh Aulakh, DSP, said the BSF had handed over a motorbike, four mobile phones with Pakistan SIM cards and Pakistani currency worth Rs2395 to them. “The accused were sent to judicial custody till further orders,” he said.