Shooting down the Pakist hexacopter (drone), which was carrying weapons, by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in Kathua district is a major achievement as they would have likely been used to carry out a major terrorist attack, according to Inspector General (IG) BSF, NS Jamwal on Saturday.
The BSF official said that an M4 (US-made) carbine machine gun, ammunition and seven grenades have been recovered from the hexacopter.
"The patrolling party of BSF from BoP in Pansar saw a hexacopter coming into Indian territory from Pakistan side. After it entered 200-250 metres into our territory our party fired on it and brought it down. After being brought down an M4 US-made weapon semi-automatic carbine, 60 rounds of ammunition, two magazines and seven grenades were recovered from it," Jamwal said at a press conference.
"The hexacopter itself weighs close to 18 kilograms and it was carrying a payload of 5-6 kg. The majority of the hexacopter parts are Chinese made," he added.
Further investigation of this incident is being carried out by Jammu and Kashmir police, according to the official.
"If you look at the weapon and grenades it feels that some terrorist or OGW was sitting inside one and a half kilometer area (on the Indian side) to receive the consignment with the purpose of carrying out a major attack. It is similar to the modus operandi used to smuggle weapons from Punjab side of the border, however, it is the first time that a drone has been shot down," the official said.
( With inputs from ANI )