A suspected Pakistani intruder trying to infiltrate into India from the Punjab border was shot dead by the Border Security Force (BSF) amid an ongoing 'high alert' ahead of Independence Day.
People in some border villages of Ferozepur district in Punjab began moving to safer areas amid soaring tensions between India and Pakistan.
The IPL match between Punjab and Delhi was called off mid-way on Thursday after Pakistan attempted to invade the airspace near Chandigarh with a drone attack, mandating an Indian retaliation.
A Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was detained by Pakistan Rangers after accidentally crossing the Punjab border. Constable PK Sahu of the 182nd battalion was apprehended by the Rangers across the Ferozepur border. Sahu, a resident of West Bengal, was in uniform and carried his service rifle. A flag meeting is underway between the two forces to secure his release.
The incident took place on the intervening night of April 8-9 near Dorangla village in Gurdaspur district. The Border Security Force (BSF) has issued an "alert" all along the 553 km of this front in Punjab and suspension of farming around the blast area.
The BSF recovered the black-coloured drone, a quadcopter of 'DJ Matrice 300 RTK' make, with an attached payload of 2.1 kilogram suspected heroin attached through an iron ring, the spokesperson said.
The Border Security Force has ordered mobilisation of additional manpower at posts along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab and Jammu as part of its measures to strengthen the anti-infiltration grid and check the intrusion of drones carrying ammunition or drugs, official sources said Monday.
The request is under "active consideration" of the Union home ministry, he said.
This is the third straight day that the border-guarding force has shot down a drone in Punjab.
The accused were also allegedly involved in the recent murder of another person in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior.
These were the first incidents in 2023 where Pakistani intruders were killed at the 2,289 km-long border that runs along Jammu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Punjab on India's western flank.
The troops of these two units are expected to be based in Samba and near the Jammu-Punjab border, the sources said.
In a strong response to the Union home ministry's letter on the ongoing farmers' agitation, the Aam Aadmi Party dispensation in Punjab on Wednesday wrote to the Centre saying it is 'completely wrong' to claim the state government was allowing gathering at the two border points with Haryana.
This was Channi's first meeting with Shah after becoming the chief minister of the state.
The incident took place on Monday around 8:30 pm in Chhana village of the district, a BSF spokesperson said.
The armed infiltrators were shot dead close to the Attari front around 2.30 am, official sources said.
The Centre has estimated that nearly 14,000 people have gathered along the Punjab-Haryana border with 1,200 tractor-trolleys, 300 cars, 10 mini-buses as well as small vehicles and conveyed its strong objections to the Punjab government for it, sources said on Tuesday.
Farmers leaders taking part in the 'Delhi Chalo' agitation on Monday rejected the Centre's proposal of procuring pulses, maize and cotton at MSP by government agencies for five years, saying it was not in farmers' interest and announced that they will march towards the national capital on Wednesday.
The government said in an order that mobile internet services would be banned in Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts.
The Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) will on Saturday hold dharnas outside the residences of three senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Punjab on the fifth day of the farmers' protest over their various demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP).
'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
The farmers also marched along the ambulance and demanded action against those who are responsible for his death.
Three private gunmen hired by Rathee for security also suffered injuries in the attack.
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their "Delhi Chalo" march was stopped by the security forces.
Landa currently resides in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta in Canada, and is a member of Babbar Khalsa International.
Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai represented the Centre at the meeting over the farmer unions' various demands, including a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26. The meeting started at around 8:45 pm on Thursday and lasted for around five hours.
Police on Friday used tear gas to disperse Haryana farmers heading towards Khanauri on Punjab's border with the state where farmers, mostly from Punjab, have been camping since last week after their 'Delhi Chalo' march was halted by security forces.
Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Tuesday said the Centre should convene a daylong Parliament session to bring a legislation on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a key demand of protesting farmers.
A 21-year-old farmer was killed and a few others injured following a clash between security personnel and protesting farmers at Khanauri on the Punjab-Haryana border.
Union ministers Arjun Munda, Piyush Goyal and Nityanand Rai and farmer leaders from Punjab will meet on Sunday for the fourth round of talks.
The police officials said the bombshell was an obsolete one which was manufactured in 1960s by the Indian Ordnance Factory.
The victim was a farmer apparently taking part in the protest in the district's Longowal area, where police were trying to stop protesters from blocking a national highway and a toll plaza, officials said.
Two Pakistani intruders were shot dead by the Border Security Force troops at a village near the border in Punjab and fake Indian currency with a face value of Rs 65 lakh was seized, officials said on Friday.
Continuing with his annual tradition of celebrating Diwali with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday arrived in Kargil.
The incident took place between 9:30 and 9:45 am when constable Sateppa SK allegedly used his service rifle and sprayed bullets on five of his colleagues, an officer said.
A spokesperson of the paramilitary force said troops fired after they heard a "buzzing sound of a suspected flying object coming from the Pakistani side to the Indian side" around 1 am in the Panjgrain area of Gurdaspur sector.
The projectile, fired by some unidentified people, hit the Saanjh Kendra adjoining the Sarhali police station on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway on Friday night.
General Pande said the northern border region has been peaceful and steps have been taken to maintain peace through established protocol and existing mechanism.
On January 2, 2016, a team of gunmen wearing Indian army fatigues waded through a branch of the Ravi river on the India-Pakistan Punjab border. Arriving on the Indian side, the men hijacked vehicles and drove towards the sprawling Pathankot Air Force base.
Did the ISI choose the Rajasthan border to smuggle narcotics after striking deals with Indian smugglers, who would send the money to various terrorist groups in Kashmir?
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