Drones spotted again over Jammu military installations

JAMMU: Within 48 hours of an attack by two drones at an Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Jammu, two similar devices were spotted again hovering over the Ratnuchak, Kaluchak and Sunjuwan military area in the region, a police officer said. Between 12.30am and 4.30am on Tuesday, officials spotted the drones hovering over the military installations, a day after two similar devices were spotted over RatnuchakKaluchak. Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is suspected to have been behind Sunday’s drone attack, a top official said.

JAMMU: Drones were again spotted hovering over military installations in Jammu’s Ratnuchak, Kaluchak and Sunjuwan areas between 12.30am to 4.30am on Tuesday, a police officer said.

They were spotted first at 1.08am at Ratnuchak, then at 3.09am and 4.19am near Sunjuwan. While Kaluchak and Ratnuchak have military stations, Sunjuwan has a fullfledged brigade of the Indian army.

Jammu district SSP Chandan Kohli said, “Army informed us that they spotted drones over Kaluchak, Ratnuchak and Sunjuwan early Tuesday. We are looking into it.”

The Army has not issued a statement over the fresh drone sighting.

Meanwhile, a six member team of the Delhi Police’s special cell reached IAF station here on Tuesday.The team will join the probe and analyse the modus operandi of the terrorists.

“The team has come to be part of the probe and at the same time analyse the modus operandi of the terrorists because Delhi is the capital and is densely populated,” said official sources.

The Kaluchak military station was attacked in 2002 by three armed terrorists from Pakistan.

The three first attacked a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus on the Jammu-Pathankot highway and killed seven passengers before storming the station, where they killed 23 people.

In February 2018, Jaish-eMohammed terrorists attacked the Sunjuwan Army installation and killed six soldiers and a civilian besides injuring 20 others. The three attackers were also killed.

The drones on Tuesday were spotted after two similar devices were seen hovering over the Ratnuchak, Kaluchak military area in the region and prompted soldiers to fire at them on Monday.

Experts say a new security threat has emerged from across the border with Pakistan, with drones being used for the first time to carry out attacks at military installations.

Early on Sunday, drones were used for two “low-intensity” explosions at the Indian Air Force (IAF) station in Jammu. Two personnel were injured in the explosions that prompted multiple teams to launch investigations.