If the recent terror attack at Jammu Air Force Station is any indication, use of drones is growing among terrorists. India has raised concerns at the UN on use of weaponised drones for terrorist purposes and called for serious attention shortly after the two blasts were carried out in Jammu using drones. As India cracks down on illegal trade and use of drones, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) confiscated eight China-made drones that were being smuggled near the Indo-Nepal border in the East Champaran district of Bihar.
The SSB received a tip about the smugglers planning to enter the Indian territory with illegal goods. The patrolling was intensified in the area and the SSB stopped and searched a car coming from Nepal. It was then they discovered eight drones manufactured by Chinese company DJI.
Soon after confiscation, the officials arrested three accused, one of them identified as Vikas Kumar, a resident of Nepal used to sell the drones illegally in India. The SSB handed over the accused and seized drones to the local police station after preliminary interrogation.
"Those arrested were identified as Vicky Kumar of Bairgania in Sitamarhi district, Rahul Kumar and Krishnandan Kumar of Kundawa Chainpur under the same police station area in East Champaran. They were handed over to Kundawa Chainpur police station for further action," Dayanand Kushwaha, the SSB sub-inspector of 20 battalion posted at Gubari border outpost on Nepal border said.
The accused have been remanded to judicial custody and a case of smuggling has been registered against the trio.
Drone attack in Jammu Air Force base
In a first of its kind terrorist attack in the country, two drones were used to drop explosives at the vital military installation on the intervening night of June 26-27. Two consecutive explosions took place within a gap of five minutes at the high-security Jammu Air Force Station, injuring two personnel on duty in the technical area. The drones later flew away.
In the two back-to-back explosions, which occurred at 1.37 a.m. and 1.42 a.m., the roof of a building was damaged. However, the explosives missed the aircraft hangar nearby. No valuable equipment was damaged in the attack.
The Air Force Station is about 14-15 km from the nearest point on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan. The farthest that a drone from Pakistan has come so far on the Indian side of the IB and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region is 12 km. Pakistan-based terrorists are suspected to be behind the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to attack the Air Force Station, officials said.
