To check cross-border smuggling, security agencies compiling database of persons with criminal records

Vijay Mohan

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Chandigarh, December 11

Security agencies are creating a database of persons with criminal records and other suspicious elements residing in the border states so as to keep a watch on their activities in an effort to check cross-border smuggling.

“In collaboration with other law enforcement organisations, including the state police and the Customs, we are compiling data of persons who have been arrested in cases of smuggling or drug trafficking and have been released on bail, parole or completion of their sentence, because there’s a possibility that they may indulge in such activities again,” YB Khurania, Special Director General, Western Command, Border Security Force (BSF) said here on Monday.

The Border Security Force is also learnt to have sent a proposal to the Punjab Government a few months ago to undertake preventive detention of persons in the state who are suspected to be involved in smuggling in accordance with provisions of law. The proposal is being examined by the state government.

Cross-border smuggling has been a cause of concern and the number of drones shot down along the international border as well as seizure of narcotics has witnessed a sharp increase in 2023 as compared to the previous years. There have also been instances where linkages with terror modules and smuggling rings in different states have come to the fore.

Khurania said to beef up surveillance in the vicinity of the international border keep and a check on the movement of suspicious elements, a project has been initiated in collaboration with the Punjab Police to install a large number of CCTV cameras are being installed at various places up to 6 km from the border. The project would be complete by March 2024.

He said with changing tactics of smugglers and the increasing use of drones that drop payloads several kilometers inside the border, the BSF, which was earlier primarily manning the international border, is now increasing deployment in depth areas. “Conducting operations in the hinterland along with the state police has produced good results,” he said.

In 2023, till the morning of December 11, 96 drones have been shot down or recovered along the international border, with most of the incidents being in Punjab.

“All cases of drone and drug recoveries are analysed and the involvement of local people is investigated in collaboration with the police. There have been several cases where arrests have been made on such a basis and the interrogation of suspects has generated a lot of valuable inputs,” Khurania said.

He added that standard operating procedures on anti-drone measures, involving both the technical as well as human elements, have been developed and refined.

“What is now emerging over the past few months is that there has been a shift from drones that were capable of carrying payloads of 3-5 kg to those that carry about 500 gm. The smaller drones prove to be cheaper for the smugglers, but are also harder for us to detect,” he said.

The BSF is also carrying out vulnerability mapping to identify and address gaps in border security. A lot of emphasis is also being laid on development and upgradation of infrastructure such as border outposts, forward defended locations, observation towers, roads and fence lighting.

Further, to overcome the existing deficiency of manpower in the BSF, 19,450 constables, including 2913 women, are being recruited. Already 5,069 recruits are undergoing basic training at various centers under BSF’s Western Command.

In 2023, formations under the Western Command, responsible for managing the border from Kargil in the north to Kutch in Gujarat, seized 755 kg narcotics, 15 rifles and 38 pistols, besides neutralising nine Pakistani intruders and apprehending another 36 Pakistani nationals.