Army foils drone attack bid in J&K

The Army said Monday that its alert jawans had averted two separate drone activities in the Ratnuchak-Kaluchak belt close to the border with Pakistan in the Jammu region, thereby foiling a possible threat in this sensitive military zone.

This comes a day after two bombs believed to have been dropped by one or two drones rocked the highsecurity technical area of the Jammu Air Force Station. Two security personnel got minor injuries in these blasts, one of which ripped off the roof of a barracks and the other took place on an open ground on the night of June 26-27.

The Army said on the intervening night of June 27-28 two separate drone activities — one at 11.45 pm and the second at 2.40 am — were spotted over the Ratnuchak-Kaluchak military area by troops who opened fire at the unmanned aerial vehicles or unmanned aircraft systems.

Defence spokesman Lt. Col. Devender Anand said: “After the drone activities were noticed, a high alert was sounded and Quick Reaction Teams engaged them (drones), following which both flew away.”

He added: “As a result of the alertness and proactive approach of our jawans, a major threat was thwarted in the area. The security forces are on high alert and the search operation is in progress.”

Reports said one of the drones was hovering over the brigade HQ of an Army unit located in the Kaluchack garrison.

The probe by the Indian Air Force into the disquieting blasts at its overly sensitive airbase in Jammu, with the incident seen as a major security lapse by the authorities, is now rolling. A National Investigation Agency team had visited the scene on Sunday morning to gather initial evidence and there is a possibility that the NIA, the country’s premier counter-terrorist task force, will be asked to take over the probe.

However, sources told this newspaper that the IAF authorities have told the government that it is capable enough of probing the incidents and take them to their logical conclusion on its own.

The Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, is likely to visit the Jammu airbase either on Tuesday or Wednesday after he returns from a three-day official visit to Bangladesh for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation arising out of the blasts. Late Sunday, he had telephoned the two IAF personnel injured in the twin blasts, Arvind Singh and S.K. Singh, to enquire about their well-being.

Explaining the NIA team’s visit to the blast site, the sources said that the National Investigation Act 2008 gives the NIA powers to take suo motu cognisance of terror activities in any part of the country and register a case. In 2019, this law was amended to expand the type of offences the agency could investigate and prosecute, including the ones coming under the Explosive Substances Act 1908, the sources added. The J&K police have also taken up the investigation into the blasts after an FIR was filed at the Satwari police station of Jammu under the relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on Sunday.

The Army sources said that its men fired 20-25 rounds at the drones before these “flew back under the cover of darkness.”

The drones were suspected to be flying at a height of 1.2 kilometers and were possibly powered by long range batteries, the sources said.

The sources added that the security grid had already been on toes as 14 drone stories have been reportedly launched from across the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) with Pakistan in the recent past.

The areas where such activity was witnessed include Jammu, Rajouri, Samba and Kathua districts of J&K.