From shoot at sight to drones, how India will counter the Pakistan menace

New Delhi, Oct 19: After being given the go-ahead to shoot down enemy drones, India will now procure drones to counter the enemy threat.

With the drone menace at the border up, India will now procure load ferrying drones, loving moving unmanned aerial vehicles and artificial intelligence-based solutions. This would help in change detection to carry out surveillance at high altitude border areas, sources tell OneIndia.

The Indian security forces have been given clearance to shoot down drones that are flying 1,000 feet or below. The decision comes in the wake of the security forces sighting a large number of drones from Pakistan at the border areas in Punjab.

Sources in the Home Ministry tell OneIndia that security forces have been told to shoot down drones that are crossing the boundary and are flying at 1,000 feet and below.

For drones flying above 1,000 feet, clearance would have to be taken from the agencies concerned as the object could be an aeroplane also, the source also added.

In the past two weeks, there have been several sightings of drones in Punjab. As recently as Tuesday the residents of Tendi Wala and Hajara Singh Wala villages, both situated along the Hussainwala border in Ferozepur had reported the sighting of drones.

This development comes after the BSF reported the sighting of a drone from Pakistan on Monday. Prior to this, the Punjab Police had found that 5 drones had conducted 8 sorties and dropped off ammunition in Punjab.

A source part of the investigating team informed OneIndia that unlike the past occurrences, this was not an attempt to drop off arms. It appears to be either a case of mischief or an attempt to carry out an aerial survey at the border. We will have a definitive answer in a day or two, the officer informed.

It may be recalled that the Punjab police had found that heavy lifting drones from Pakistan were used to drop off arms and ammunition near the Punjab border. The consignment was meant to be picked up by the members of the KZF and then transported to Jammu and Kashmir, the police also learnt.

The Punjab Police nabbed four members of the proscribed outfit. Further investigations also led to the arrest of another person identified as Shubhdeep Singh alias Shubh. It is learnt that the five persons had destroyed a drone after it failed to fly back to Pakistan.

They then threw parts of the drone into a canal near the Dhode village. To retrieve the material, more than five divers were pressed into service.