BSF shoots down 5 intruders at Indo-Pak border: How it all happened

BSF personnel from the 103rd battalion also recovered an AK-series rifle and a pistol from the site where these intruders were killed near Dall village, officials said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead five alleged intruders along the India-Pakistan International Border in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district early on Saturday, officials said.

The BSF personnel from 103rd battalion have also recovered an AK-series rifle and a pistol from the site where these intruders were killed near Dall village of Bhikhiwind sub-division in the district, they added.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

This is the highest number of intruders killed in a single incident along the more than 3,300 km-long border with Pakistan in more than a decade, officials said.

Here is what happened at the border:

• The BSF troops, officials said, first noticed suspicious activity at the border around midnight and launched a focussed surveillance on the intruders. They also set up multiple ambushes along the front after which ‘contact was established’ early in the morning, just behind the IB fence.

• According to people familiar with the developments, two men at that point of time were trying to sneak into India.

• The intruders were seen carrying rifles and were taking the aid of the ‘sarkanda’ or tall grass to sneak into India, they said.

• The two men were asked to stop, but they continued their movement, which prompted the troops to open fire. After the firing, a search operation was launched following which the BSF found five bodies.

• An intensive search operation along the front is underway. “The search operation is still going on. It is yet to be ascertained if those who were shot down are Pakistanis. An AK-series rifle and a rucksack has been recover so far. We can tell about the motive of the accused once the operation is finished,” said a senior BSF official.

(With inputs from PTI)