GPS-fitted drones from Pak airdropped weapons into Indian territory:police probe

GPS-fitted drones that can lift up to 10 kg carried out seven to eight sorties from Pakistan to drop AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and pistols which were seized in Punjab's Tarn Taran district, according to a Punjab police probe which also indicated the weapons were to be used for terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a police official on Wednesday, it was for the first time that drones were used to drop weapons and communication devices like satellite phones in Punjab from across the border. A half-burnt drone used in the operation was recovered from Tarn Taran, said the official of the Counter-Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police.

The Punjab Police on Sunday claimed to have busted a terror module of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), backed by a group based in Pakistan and Germany. It said the terror group was conspiring to unleash a series of strikes in Punjab and adjoining states like J and K.

The police official, who gave details of the probe, said the weapons were intended to spread terror in J and K, weeks after the Centre abrogated provisions under Article 370 of the Constitution that granted special status to the state.

Four members of the KZF module -- Balwant Singh, alias Nihang, Akashdeep Singh, alias Akash Randhawa, Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh -- were arrested from the outskirts of Chohla Sahib village in Tarn Taran on Sunday.

During questioning, the accused told investigators that Global Positioning System(GPS)-fitted "big" drones were used to drop arms and ammunition from across the border in Tarn Taran district,