JAMMU: A search operation was launched Sunday morning following information about movement of a suspected Pakistani drone in a forward border village of Ramgarh sector along the International Border (IB) in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.“Some locals in Karalian village in Ramgarh noticed the blinking light of a suspected Pak drone today around 0630hrs. It later disappeared. They immediately reported the matter to police,” officials said.They said BSF troops, along with Special Operation Group (SOG) of J&K Police, immediately launched a search operation in the village and adjoining areas to ensure there is no airdropping of weapons or narcotics from across the border.The search operation continued till late afternoon, officials said.Drones from across the border are commonly seen along the LoC and the International Border in Rajouri, Poonch, Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, where security forces have often recovered weapons and narcotics.Drones are also being used by terrorist outfits based in Pakistan to smuggle weapons and cash in a bid to revive terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, according to officials. Recently, on September 21, BSF launched a search operation after picking up the movement of a Pakistani drone along the International Border near a forward village in the Ranbir Singh Pura in Jammu district.On September 13, police had found a drone with thermal payload in Garkhal area of Akhnoor here. The drone was found entangled in a tree.The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing incidents of arms and ammunition being dropped from drones and has chargesheeted 10 people in a case in Jammu, which was originally registered by police in Kathua district on May 29, 2022, after a drone (hexacopter) was intercepted and recovered with several rounds of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) and magnetic bombs near Dhalli area.
