In an incident where a major threat was averted, the J&K police shot down a IED-laden drone which had 5 kgs of IED (improvised explosive device). The incident comes amid heightened drone activity in the Jammu and Kashmir valley. Earlier last month, the J&K airport was rocked by twin-bomb blasts. Meanwhile, newly appointed Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia introduced the new drone policy for better checks and control of drone circulation in India.
Details
On Friday morning, the Jammu & Kashmir police shot down a hexacopter drone in in Akhnoor area of Jammu valley. After the drone was shot down, the police recovered around 5 kilograms of IED (improvised explosive device) which could have been assembled to be used by terrorists for attacks.
We had deployed team near Akhnoor based on specific info. Around 1am, a drone was detected. When its was lowered to drop payload, police team started firing & shot it down. Payload weighing around 5 kg was IED in an almost prepared condition: Mukesh Singh ADGP, Jammu zone pic.twitter.com/gcHuSaeSr5
— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2021
Also Read: Centre Issues National Drone Policy after J&K Airport Explosions
Where was the drone shot down? What was it carrying?
The hexacopter drone was shot down 8 km inside the IB (international border) in Gurah Pattan region in Akhnoor. According to reports, the drone had flown from the Pakistani side of the Indian border and the IED was supposedly to be air-dropped in a nearby region. The IED was wrapped inside a plastic packet and if it had been dropped, the persons collecting would only have needed to connect its fuse to the wires and planed it for the eventual explosion.
IED-laden drone shot down ahead of President’s Visit
Reportedly, the IED was later blasted off by the police and DG Jammu Police, Mukesh Singh, confirmed the activity. While no casualties or harms have been reported, the incident can be considered an alarming one, especially as it happened just 2 days ahead of Indian President Ram Nath Kovind’s J&K and Ladakh visit.
Also Read: Drone Threats: 3 more drones sighted in Jammu Days After Attack on IAF base
Agencies Probing LeT’s Hand in the Matter
While no groups have taken responsibility of flying the drone with explosive materials into the Indian border, intelligence agencies are reportedly probing if terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are behind the act.
It should be noted that Lashkar-e-Taiba were responsible for the recent killing of the havaldar of 44 Rastriya Rifles contingent. In that incident the joint security forces killed 5 alleged terrorists in Rajpora’s Pulwama district in an encounter.
Also Read: Project ‘Medicine from the sky’: Telangana tests the drones and ICMR seeks bids
Earlier Drone Sightings in J&K
It should also be of note that Friday’s drone activities weren’t the first in J&K. Earlier on July 16, the National Security Guards had deployed an anti-drone system at the Jammu airbase which picked-up drone activity. The drone was flying about three kilometers away from the airbase.
After the airbase was alerted, India Today TV reported sources saying-
“The radar of the anti-drone system managed to pick up a drone on July 13 night and alerted the forces. The drone vanished from the scene soon after.”
As the drone sightings have gotten fairly regular, the Srinagar administration has banned any unmanned aerial vehicles and has also warned against the sale, possession, storage and usage of drones and has further claimed that all such activities related to drones may invite action.
Also Read: India to Acquire 10 Made in India Anti-Drone Systems in Answer to Kashmir Blasts
Recent History of Drone Sightings in J&K
While the conversation around drones have heightened recently, reports suggest that after the first few months of the Article 370 was being revoked in Jammu and Kashmir, at least 10-15 drones were spotted by the security forces posted along the Indo-Pak border. Just after August and before November in 2019, around 10-15 drones were regularly spotted by the BSF (Border Security Force) personnel on the frontier areas.
All the conversation around drones and their use in terrorist activities came after the J&K airport was rocked by twin explosions. Two low-flying drones dropped IED at the Jammu air based at the J&K airport on June 27.
While no casualties were reported, 2 Indian Air Force personnel were injured. Just a day after that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting which was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
