Home ministry calls meeting with BSF, Army to assess security along international border

NEW DELHI: With a sudden rise in infiltration along the India-Pakistan border, the Union home ministry has called a meeting of the Border Security Force and the Army, on Friday, to assess the security along the international border and line of control. BSF is deployed over the 3,300-km long international border, while the Army maintains vigil at LoC that stretches 740 km.

On Thursday morning, the BSF foiled another infiltration bid at Punjab when a suspected intruder was shot dead near Pathankot, where the force is on high alert following the January 2 terror attack on the air force base.

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According to BSF sources, three suspected Pakistan nationals tried to enter India near the border outpost at Tash. While the two managed to flee, one was gunned down after an exchange of fire.

The BSF later called a flag meeting with Pakistan Rangers, where the latter refused to acknowledge that the man who was killed hailed from their land. The man was around 30 and did not have anything in possession to identify him. His body was sent for postmortem. “The three came inside 50 metres and were observed by BSF constable Girdhar Gopal, who challenged them,” said a senior BSF official. The BSF also launched a search to locate if there were more intruders in the vicinity but heavy fog and low visibility hampered its operation.

According to security agencies, terrorists from across the border are trying to infiltrate using the porous Punjab border. The attackers of Dinanagar last July and the Pathankot air base came through Ujj, a rivulet on the border, said officials.