BSF denies infiltration through Punjab border

The Border Security Force submitted a detailed report to the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday, saying there is no evidence of infiltration along the International Border, though the six terrorists killed in the Pathankot operation are believed to have entered through the Punjab border.

The BSF will deploy 2,000 additional personnel along the Punjab and Jammu borders to plug unfenced riverine and forest gaps.

Officials said the BSF submitted the report after Director-General D.K. Pathak undertook a forward area tour along the International Border on Tuesday, including at Bamiyal, a border village in Pathankot, which is believed to have been used by terrorists to infiltrate into the country and attack the airbase.

They said the force has put forth the details of its night “morchas” and movement of its patrol teams in these areas on December 30 and 31, when it is suspected that the terrorists crossed over from the other side and attacked the airbase.

The force, in the report, has chronicled the movements and surveillance records of its satellite-based devices and imagers that detect intrusion and illegal movement along the border to validate its point.

“The force commanders have put forth the evidence to state that nothing has gone unnoticed in the past few days,” they said.

They said it had been decided to bolster manpower to plug vulnerable gaps, especially along Punjab and Jammu, and two battalions (2,000 troops) would be required for the task in the primary stages.

An NIA team, which is investigating the case, interrogated the former Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, who was “abducted” by the terrorists. The scene of abduction was recreated and the team visited Bamiyal. Mr. Singh was taken to the places he had visited before he, along with his jeweller friend Rajesh Kumar Verma and cook Madan Gopal, was abducted.