BSF intensifies search along Pak border, looks for more cross-border terror tunnels

New Delhi, Nov 24: The Border Security Force (BSF) has intensified patrolling of the International Border with Pakistan in the Samba and Rajouri sectors of Jammu and Kashmir.

Following an order by the Director-General of the BSF, Rakesh Asthana, the forces are now patrolling the above mentioned areas with an objective of unearthing more cross-border tunnels like the one used by the four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists, who were killed on November 19.

The Border Security Force on Sunday said that it detected a 150-metre long tunnel that could have been used by the four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists for infiltration from Pakistan.

The tunnel was detected by the BSF at the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district. It may be recalled that the four JeM terrorists were gunned down in Nagrota on Thursday and huge cache of arms was discovered on them.

Officials OneIndia spoke with said that the tunnel could not have been made without the help of the Pakistan establishment. The tunnel which is 150 metres long is 40 metres long on the Pakistan side. It is a newly dug tunnel and was used for the first time by the JeM terrorists.

This well-engineered tunnel was constructed with the help of the Pakistan establishment to aide terrorists in infiltration. Pakistan has this year resorted to ceasefire violations on multiple occasions with the intention of providing cover-fire to the terrorists so that they can infiltrate into India.

With Pakistan's propaganda machinery falling flat after the abrogation of Article 370, it is making every attempt to send terrorists to the Valley and carry out terror attacks. The Pakistan establishment also wants to disrupt the upcoming DDC polls, the official cited above also said.

The tunnel, which is 2.5 metre wide and 25 to 30 metre deep was constructed with proper engineering effort to ensure that it is not detected as its opening was found surrounded with sarkanda (elephant grass).

He also lauded the cooperation and regular inflow of information from police and intelligence agencies, leading to the early detection of the tunnel.

This was the second tunnel detected by the BSF along the IB in Samba in the last three months. In August, the border guarding force found a tunnel near the border fencing in the Galar area.

The BSF carried out the massive anti-tunnelling operation after it came to light that the four JeM terrorists had infiltrated through the Samba sector before being eliminated in Nagrota.

This was a new tunnel dug out from Pakistan after the older one was unearthed by BSF (in Samba). After the successful operation in Nagrota, the question was how did the JeM group managed to infiltrate into this side from Pakistan, reached the national highway and boarded the Kashmir bound truck.

The slain terrorists were carrying 14 weapons and a large quantity of explosive material including RDX. The police got some evidence and shared the inputs with the BSF which finally led to the detection of the tunnel.