Chandigarh, Dec 3: The Border Security Force has identified major hotspots along the Pakistan border in Punjab where rogue drones are repeatedly used to push weapons and narcotics into India, a senior officer said on Tuesday. BSF Western Command Additional Director General Satish S. Khandare said a new integrated mechanism to counter drones is being rolled out across Punjab and Jammu amid rising cross-border infiltration attempts.
“We have begun deploying anti-drone systems on a massive scale,” Khandare said at a press conference. “Alongside this, an anti-tunnelling system is being implemented in Jammu to prevent smuggling of arms and drugs.”
According to him, the Western Command has seized over 380 kilograms of heroin, recovered more than 200 weapons, detected 278 rogue drones and apprehended 53 Pakistani intruders and smugglers so far this year. The BSF has also set up a drone forensic laboratory in Amritsar to study each recovered drone, including its flight path, sorties and possible drop locations.
“Based on these analyses, we have identified major hotspots—primarily in Punjab and some in Rajasthan,” he said. “Drone patterns have changed significantly since 2019. Smaller, cheaper drones are now being used for smuggling.”
Khandare said the BSF was coordinating closely with Punjab Police and has shared its expertise to help the state government install anti-drone systems. He said smuggling consignments have reduced in size, with drones generally carrying about 500 grams of heroin or a pistol and often dropping them well inside the fencing.
He also said detection had become harder with the emergence of frequency-hopping drones. “They constantly change their communication frequency, but our technologies are evolving simultaneously,” he said.
Khandare admitted that waterlogging had damaged around 65 km of border fencing, creating temporary gaps. “Attempts were made by anti-national elements to exploit these gaps,” he said. Joint BSF–Punjab Police searches later recovered a large quantity of weapons from the affected stretches.
The officer said the BSF is using indigenous radar systems, electro-optical and infrared cameras, and radio-frequency analysers to detect, track and neutralise cross-border drones.
