Chandigarh, Dec 3: The Border Security Force has pinpointed several stretches along the Pakistan border in Punjab that have emerged as prime routes for drone-based smuggling of drugs and weapons. Senior BSF officials said on Tuesday that extensive anti-drone deployments are now underway to counter the escalating threat.
ADG Satish S. Khandare of the BSF’s Western Command said the force has begun installing an integrated anti-drone grid across Punjab and Jammu. “We are expanding anti-drone systems on a large scale. In Jammu, an anti-tunnelling system is also being implemented to stop cross-border smuggling,” he said.
The Western Command, he said, has this year seized more than 380 kilograms of heroin, recovered over 200 weapons, detected 278 rogue drones and arrested 53 Pakistani infiltrators and smugglers. A specialised drone forensic lab in Amritsar now analyses every seized drone to determine its route, sortie count and drop zones.
“Our analyses show clear hotspots, mostly in Punjab and parts of Rajasthan,” Khandare said. “Since drones first appeared in 2019, their patterns have changed. Smugglers are now using smaller, cheaper devices.”
He said the BSF is working jointly with Punjab Police and has provided technical experts to help set up the state government’s anti-drone systems. Drone consignments have become smaller as well, he added. “A drone usually carries around 500 grams of heroin or a pistol, and the drops are often made far inside the fence.”
Khandare said detection challenges have increased due to the rise of frequency-hopping drones. “They keep shifting their communication frequency. But our anti-drone technology is also advancing,” he said.
He confirmed that heavy waterlogging earlier this year damaged roughly 65 km of border fencing, creating security gaps. “Anti-national elements attempted to exploit these stretches,” he said. BSF and Punjab Police later recovered a significant quantity of weapons during joint searches in those areas.
Khandare said the force is relying on indigenous technology—including radars, electro-optical and infrared cameras, and RF analysers—to track and neutralise cross-border drones.
