Three days ahead of the Republic Day, the Border Security Forces (BSF) on Saturday busted another cross-border tunnel constructed by Pakistani agencies at Pansar on the International Border (IB) in the Kathua district to push armed terrorists into the Jammu division.
The secret tunnel, second in the past ten days, was detected during an anti-tunnelling operation in the border outpost, said a BSF spokesman.
The tunnel has been detected between Border Post number 14 and 15 . Pakistan BOPs on the other side of the IB are Abhiyal Dogra and Kingre-de-kothe (Distt Sakargarh).
In another operation in the Poonch district along the Line of Control (LoC), the BSF, and the special operations group (SOG) of the J&K Police busted a terrorists hideout and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition, including Chinese pistols.
The recovery includes, one AK 47 Rifle, three AK mags, 82 AK rounds, three Chinese pistol, five pistol mags, 33 rounds of pistol ammunition, four hand grenades, one UBGL grenade and one Set Kenwood communication system.
Giving details of the secret tunnel, the spokesman said the tunnel detected on basis of specific intelligence inputs is fourth in the past six months along the IB in Samba and Kathua districts.
The BSF has so far detected ten cross border tunnels dug by Pakistani agencies to infiltrate terrorists into Jammu division.
The tunnel is 150-metre-long originating from the Pakistan side with a depth of about 30 feet and three feet diameter. Earlier, the BSF had shot down a Pakistani Hexacopter carrying load of weapons and ammunition in June last year in the same area. The BSF troops had also foiled an infiltration bid in the same area in November, 2019.
A 150-metre-long tunnel was also detected in Bobiyaan village in the same sector on 13 January.
Meanwhile on specific intelligence inputs, a party led by Deputy commandant of BSF comprising troops of BSF, Army and SOG launched an operation in Hadiguda village in the Mandi sub-division of Poonch and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition.
The J&K DGP Dilbag Singh had recently said that intelligence reports have been received of Pakistan backed terrorists planning to disturb peace in the union territory. He called upon the security forces and intelligence agencies to remain alert to thwart such attempts.