PM’s incident, drones, blasts: For Punjab security is becoming a joke

New Delhi, Jan 06: Prime Minister Narendra Modi got held up for nearly 20 minutes in Punjab owing to a major security lapse by the local police. The PM's convoy got held up due to a protest and it was clear that the Punjab Police had failed to sanitise the route.

Speaking of a security breach, in the past couple of years the situation in Punjab has only deteriorated.

A state that had faced the menace of Khalistan terrorism is once again back in the spotlight due to its poor handling of the security situation. In the past couple of years, the approach has been near casual when it comes to security, experts tell OneIndia.

It was only last month that a blast was reported in Ludhiana in which one person died. Off late a number of incidents are being reported, which go on to suggest that security has become lax. The blast that took place today was inside a court premises which is in the heart of Ludhiana and close to the District Commissioner's office.

This was not the first time that a blast is taking place in the state during the election season. In 2017 on the eve of the 2017 Assembly elections at Maur Mandi. On February 4 2017 two twin blasts had taken place in which seven people died including 5 children.

In addition to these incidents, Punjab is also witnessing sacrilege and lynching. On Saturday a man from UP was lynched after an alleged attempt to commit sacrilege into the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple.

Punjab has also had a drone problem in the recent past. Several drone sightings from Pakistan have been reported. In one incident, the drones had also dropped off arms and ammunition.

Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that incidents of sacrilege will be a fodder for Khalistan forces to return to Punjab. For long the Intelligence agencies have said that Pakistan's ISI has been making efforts to ensure the return of terrorism in Punjab.

The Intelligence has warned for long that the ISI and the Khalistan forces will try taking advantage of any instability in Punjab. These recent incidents are a pointer to that fact. The ISI would incite violence by undertaking such acts knowing fully that some radical elements would react in a violent manner.

In Punjab, the police found that drones were used by Pakistan to drop off weapons at the border areas, so that it could be transported to Jammu and Kashmir.

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.

Investigations have shown that these weapons were being dropped off in Punjab are meant to be transported to Jammu and Kashmir. Over the past 10 days, the drones are said to have carried out 8 sorties to drop the weapons, which also include satellite phones.