Will provide security to farmers for cultivation ahead of border fence: IG BSF

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Border Security Force (BSF) Jammu Frontier D K Boora yesterday asked the farmers to cultivate their land ahead of the fence on the International Border (IB) and assured that they would be provided with full security by the border guards.

He was addressing the border population in a function organised by BSF and Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) in Ramgarh area of district Samba to felicitate the villager who had provided information about Pakistani drone thus helping in its recovery by security forces in the sector.

IG BSF also reassured the villagers that a protection bund would be in place all along the border in the next four to five years. “The Union Home Ministry has cleared the proposal on this account. As the funds are released, the construction of protection bund will start. In the next four to five years, there will be protection bund all across the border, serving a dual purpose. It will provide protection to the farmers engaged in farming practices from the firing from the adversary. It will facilitate BSF personnel as well. We will try to construct bunkers also along with protection bund, which can be used both by the villagers as well as BSF personnel as and when they need,” he said.

With regard to cultivation of land ahead of the fence, he said that the villagers would have to follow certain norms as are applicable across the country in border states like Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. “You should not worry on any account. If you have any apprehension that they will not allow you to harvest your crop, rest assured, we will not allow the other side also to reap their harvest,” he said.

Earlier, Inspector General BSF Jammu D K Boora and SSP Samba Vinay Kumar felicitated Bhagwan Das, son of Amar Singh, resident of village Nandpur in Ramgarh sector of Samba district with a reward of Rs 3,00,000, in the felicitation ceremony at Baba Chamliyal shrine.

According to a BSF spokesperson, on January 18, 2024, Bhagwan Das saw a drone lying in his agricultural land. “He immediately informed the nearest BSF troops, who subsequently recovered the Pak drone from his field. In recognition of his swift action, he was felicitated,” the spokesperson said.

Villagers of Chani Fatwal, Chak Nazir, Nandpur, Pindi, Dug, Abtal and Kaku-Da-Kotha, along with school children were present at the function.

“IG BSF appreciated the villagers for providing timely information on drones and anti-national activity noticed by them. He asserted that BSF Jammu would always be at the forefront to maintain close liaison with the border population for their safety and security. SSP Samba informed the general public about the different types of rewards announced by Jammu & Kashmir Police for providing information on different anti national activities to the Police,” PRO BSF said.

Meanwhile, a police spokesperson said that Senior Superintendent of Police Samba, Vinay Kumar presented a cheque of Rs 3 lakh as reward amount on behalf of ADGP Jammu zone to a villager in the felicitation ceremony organized jointly by Samba Police and BSF.

Besides IG BSF D K Boora; DIG BSF Jammu Sector Chitter Pal, CO BSF 148 Bn Kamal Rawat, Tehsildar Vijaypur, SDPO Vijaypur, SHO Ramgarh, a large number of people from village Dug and adjoining villages attended the function.

The reward was given as a part of J&K Police’s policy recently announced by DGP J&K.

“On January 18, 2024, a local resident of village Nandpur, noticed a suspicious object lying in his field near Border out Post (BoP) Chamliyal. On seeing a suspicious object (drone), he immediately rushed to the nearest BSF unit manned by BSF 148 Bn and informed them about a drone lying in his field. Acting swiftly on the information, the security forces recovered a Pak surveillance drone fitted with a camera from the field of the informer,” the police spokesperson said.

Addressing the gathering, SSP Samba sought cooperation and support from the general public living near IB in curbing the menace of narco-terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. He apprised the general public about different types of rewards recently announced by DGP J&K for people who would provide information and intelligence on trans- border tunnels, drones, narcotics, terror activities and terrorists.

Ex-BDC chairman Ramgarh, Darshan Singh thanked the J&K Police for announcing a huge reward amount to motivate people living near the border to help strengthen security forces in thwarting nefarious designs of anti-national elements.

“The awardee expressed his gratitude towards J&K Police and committed to serve the nation in future also,” the police spokesperson said.