Punjab police seize AK-47 rifle, ammunition suspected to be dropped by Pakistan

The police recovered them while conducting a combing operation in the region.

The rifle and rounds were said to have been dropped by a Pakistani drone in the wee hours on Sunday, The Tribune reported.

SSP Rajinder Singh Sohal told the newspaper 70 per cent of the total district police force was put on duty in Dorangla from where 11 grenades were also recovered on Monday evening. 

The grenades were dropped by the same drone, said officers. 

The machine was shot at by men of the 58th Battalion of the BSF and Punjab cops in a joint operation before it flew back to Pakistani territory, the newspaper reported.

Like the grenades, the AK-47 and the accompanying ammunition too were packed neatly in a wooden box, The Tribune reported.

Sohal told the newspaper five SHOs and three DSPs took part in today’s combing exercise.

Sources told the newspaper this was the sixth sighting of a drone since September last year in Gurdaspur district.

“The ammunition was found from a mustard field near the Wazidpur village cremation ground. The search operation will continue for the next few days. If need arises, we will requisition forces from the neighbouring police districts of Batala, Amritsar and Tarn Taran. In today’s operation nearly 700 men took part. We have identified some other villages in the area too where we will launch a fresh exercise tomorrow morning,” the SSP said.

Security forces are trying to ascertain the source for which the consignment and the grenades were sent.

“We have questioned the land owners of the fields from where the ammunition has been recovered. My officers have found some clues but it is too early to give details,” the SSP told The Tribune.

A senior officer told the newspaper that terror groups and the ISI had procured upgraded versions of drones which could carry larger quantities of firearms as compared to the drones that were being used earlier.