BSF seeks more manpower to keep check on drone-affected Punjab border

The BSF has sought the deployment of an additional battalion to check the onslaught of cross-border drones carrying drugs and ammunition and curb infiltration along the Punjab front of the India-Pakistan border.

The force currently has about 20 battalions to guard the more than 500-kilometre-long front, out of which 18 are "actively deployed" at the border while the rest are mobilised in view of the requirements at the Attari integrated check post in Amritsar and the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district.

The drone menace that started around 2019-20 along this front is dominant in the border districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran. One more Border Security Force (BSF) battalion has been sought to better secure the Punjab border, a senior officer told PTI.

The request is under "active consideration" of the Union home ministry, he said.

Atul Fulzele, inspector general for the BSF's Punjab Frontier, had recently said that all the drugs from across the Pakistan borde