BSF detects yet another tunnel in the Pansar area of Hiranagar sector, between Border Post Number 14 and 15, ahead of Republic Day. The tunnel is around 150 metre long and 30 foot deep and it appears to be at least 6 to 8 years old. This is fourth such tunnel detected in the last six months.

A spokesperson of the BSF said that, "It is pertinent to mention here that BSF had shot down a Pakistani Hexacopter carrying a load of weapons and ammunition in June 2020 in the same area."

He further added that, "BSF troops had also foiled an infiltration bid in the same area in Nov 2019 wherein BSF troops had fired upon the party trying to infiltrate into India.

A senior counterterror official said that, "Detecting all the tunnels constructed by the Pakistani military and its terrorists is very important because the infiltration of terrorists through them effectively nullifies the utility of the deployment of soldiers along the Line of Control. Pakistani terrorists use these tunnels when it becomes too difficult to cross the LoC.

This is the second tunnel to be found by the border guarding force in the time period within 10 days, the fourth in the past six months along the IB in the districts of Samba and Kathua and the 10th in the last decade.

In November last year, the BSF has found a 150-metre-long tunnel and it is suspected of being used by four Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists for infiltration from Pakistan.

Border Security Force director general Rakesh Asthana directed the force to step up efforts to locate the tunnels after the encounter.