Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistani drone with payload shot down in Kathua

Jammu: A Pakistani drone with a payload was shot down in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday shortly after it crossed into the Indian side from across the International Border, police said.

A search party of police picked up the movement of a drone from the border in Talli Hariya Chak area under the Rajbagh police station's jurisdiction in the morning and fired at it, a police spokesperson said.

He said the drone was brought down after being hit by the ground fire.

"It has a payload attached with it and it is being screened by the bomb disposal squad," the spokesperson said.

He added the search party was sent to the area to check frequent drone activity from across the border.

As terror groups in Kashmir face shortage of arms and ammunition, Pakistan-based terror groups have developed ingenious ways to ensure they can continue supplying weapons. Terror outfits have now started dropping weapons across the borders through drones.

Multiple sightings of UAVs have been reported along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) and especially in Jammu. The use of hostile UAVs is not recent and have been spotted earlier in Jammu’s Kathua and Akhnoor, and in the border district of Kupwara in Kashmir.

Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir have expanded their anti-drone system capacity and jamming technology, especially around key military installations in the wake of heightened drone activities.

The Jammu division has reported an increase in overall militancy related incidents this year apart from the UAV related cases. The incidents have been reported from both the areas of IB as well the LoC where security agencies have made huge recoveries of arms and ammunition, and have also carried out arrests related to militancy related modules.

(with inputs from PTI)