Border violation: Indian forces fire at Rangers check post near Wagah

BSF officials claim killing three smugglers.

LAHORE:

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) resorted to unprovoked firing at a Pakistani paramilitary check post near the Wagah border on Saturday. A Punjab Rangers official told The Express Tribune that the firing took place at 2am in the morning near the Ali check post in Thatti Kodi village, prompting retaliatory fire by Pakistani forces. However, no loss of life was reported in the incident.

At a flag meeting held later between the Rangers and the BSF officials, Pakistani forces demanded an explanation for the unprovoked attack.

A Rangers official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the BSF officials claimed they had shot at heroin smugglers who were trying to enter Indian territory.

In support of their claims, he said, the BSF presented the bodies of three drug smugglers and the two dozen kilogrammes of heroin that they had confiscated from the men. However, according to Punjab Rangers officials, the BSF has been unable to furnish proof.

This is the latest in the ongoing border violations between India and Pakistan. Both sides have carried out tit-for-tat attacks and allegations continue to be exchanged over who began the ongoing conflict.

Last week, Indian media reported that BSF guards had seized 100kgs of heroin worth $81 million in the last two months, adding that the spike in drug trafficking at the border had led to round-the-clock patrolling by BSF personnel.

The Indian state of Punjab has now become a key smuggling route for drugs that come in from neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan. The drugs smuggled into India are mainly destined for Europe, but also find buyers in the state of 27 million. It is estimated that two-thirds of all rural households in the Indian state have at least one drug addict, according to a 2009 state survey.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2013.