The Indian Army has foiled attempts by militants from Pakistan to smuggle weapons through Jammu and Kashmir’s Keran sector, PTI reported on Saturday, citing officials. The troops recovered four AK-74 rifles, eight magazines and 240 rounds of ammunition concealed in two bags.
An unidentified Army official told the news agency that troops had noticed around three men transporting some items in a tube tied to a rope across the Kishanganga river. The area has been cordoned off and a search is underway, the official said.
The Army first detected movement on the banks of the the river at around 8.30 pm on Friday, according to The Tribune. A joint operation was then launched with the Jammu and Kashmir Police. At 10 pm, the surveillance teams saw the militants trying to smuggle the weapons.
Corps Commander of the Army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps Lieutenant General BS Raju told reporters that there had been no change in Pakistan’s intentions. “This morning, in the Keran sector, Pakistan tried to send across the Kishenganga river four AK-74 rifles and a huge cache of ammunition in a tube, but our alert troops with the help of surveillance devices, recovered the cache.”
Raju said the Army will continue to thwart Pakistan’s attempts to push in arms and ammunition.
“There have been attempts [to smuggle arms] in Keran, Tangdhar, in Jammu sector and Punjab as well. The main aim [of Pakistan] is to keep the people of Kashmir involved always in terrorism. But, our resolve is to stop weapons from coming in so that there is minimal loss to the people here. We need the cooperation of the people in this so that we can stop terrorism.”
— Lieutenant General BS Raju
The Jammu and Kashmir Police had said last month that Pakistan had been using drones to drop weapons across the Line of Control at night. The police had on September 22 seized a cache of arms and ammunition, including two AK assault rifles and a pistol, from a village in Akhnoor region.
On September 13, Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh had also said that Pakistan was using cross-border underground tunnels to push terrorists into India and using drones to drop weapons for them. He added that the anti-infiltration grid was active and anti-tunnelling operations were underway to scuttle “nefarious designs”.
On August 29, the Border Security Force had said it has detected a tunnel, originating from Pakistan, just beneath the Indo-Pakistan international border fence in Jammu.
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