India's Border Security Force (BSF) brought down another unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that crossed over into Indian territory from Pakistan and landed in Punjab state's Amritsar district, security officials said on Tuesday.
According to BSF officials tasked with securing India's international border with Pakistan in Punjab, the drone's movement was noticed by alert troops near Chaharpur village in Amritsar before they fired at it to bring it down.
"Alert BSF troops were once again able to capture a drone and foil a smuggling attempt," a BSF spokesperson said.
"BSF recovered 1 Hexacopter in partially damaged condition along with the suspected item in white color polyethene attached underneath lying in a farming field on (India's) own side of the border fencing near the village of Chaharpur," the BSF official added.
It is pertinent to note that the number of Pakistani drones sneaking into India has witnessed a significant rise this year when compared with last year: according to Indian security agencies, 230 drones have already crossed the Indian border this year from the Pakistani side, vs 104 in 2021.
An especially high number have been spotted in Jammu and Kashmir union territory and in Punjab.
With the massive surge in the number of Pakistani drones trying to sneak into India, the armed forces of the country have expedited the deployment of anti-drone systems along the border.
Last year, two explosive-laden drones even attacked an Indian Air Force base in Jammu city - the first instance when a UAV was used to attack a military area in India.