BSF has found a tunnel in Samba, Jammu and Kashmir | Photo credit: ANI
Key points
- The tunnel is 20 feet long, 3-4 feet in diameter, and begins in Pakistan and ends in Jammu.
- It was reinforced with sandbags that had markings from a couple of cities in Pakistan.
Jammu: The Border Security Force (BSF) has found a hidden tunnel along the India-Pakistan border in the Samba region of Jammu and Kashmir, authorities confirmed on Saturday. The BSF claims that the tunnel, which begins in Pakistan and ends in Jammu, could not have been built without the approval of the Pakistani authorities and that India will present a strong protest in this regard.
According to Jammu BSF IG, NS Jamwal, the security forces received information about the existence of a tunnel in the Samba area and a special team found the tunnel yesterday. The mouth of the tunnel was duly reinforced with sandbags.
The sandbags have the proper markings from Pakistan, clearly showing that it was excavated with the proper planning and engineering efforts, Jamwal said.
He confirmed that the tunnel is approximately 20 feet long and 3-4 feet in diameter in the Indian Territory near the border fence.
“Pakistan-made sandbags with the Shakargarh / Karachi inscription were found at the tunnel mouth to hide it. The tunnel opening site is about 170 meters from IB towards the Indian side,” he added.
Investigating the Pakistani government, Jammu BSF IG said that such a large tunnel cannot be built without the concurrence and approval of the Pakistani ranger and other agencies.
Discussing the next course of action in this regard, Jamwal said: “A protest will be filed with the Pakistani authorities, calling for action to be taken against the culprits.”
Meanwhile, the border security force has been conducting a mega anti-tunneling campaign in the areas of Jammu and elsewhere since five infiltrators were recently killed in Punjab.
The entire BSF formation deployed along the 3,300km international border that runs alongside Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat is on extra alert as there are multiple intelligence entrances of terrorists attempting to violate the IB and infiltrate India.
