Armed Pakistani intruder shot dead by BSF along Punjab border

New Delhi/Chandigarh: An armed Pakistani intruder was shot dead by the Border Security Force (BSF) along the India-Pakistan international border in Punjab on Tuesday morning, officials said.

The infiltration bid was detected in Gurdaspur's Ajnala sector around 8 am and the troops subsequently recovered the body of a man along with a weapon there.

"At about 0830 hours, BSF troops of border post Channa in Gurdaspur sector observed suspected movement of an armed Pak intruder ahead of the fence.

"The suspected intruder was challenged and neutralised by the troops," a BSF spokesperson said.

"A gun was found near the body of the Pakistani miscreant and an extensive search of the area is in progress," the spokesperson said.

The intruder was found armed with a sophisticated modified 'Pump Action' shotgun, which can fire more than one shot.

It was earlier informed by BSF officials that there were two incidents of intrusion, but later they clarified it to be a single incident.

This was the first incident in 2023 where a Pakistani intruder was killed at the 2,289 km-long border that runs along Jammu, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Punjab on India's western flank.

In 2022, the BSF had killed two infiltrators and apprehended 23 Pakistanis along the 553-km-long India-Pakistan international border in Punjab.

The force also recovered 1 kg of suspected heroin from a drone it retrieved on Monday, which it had shot down in the Kassowal area of the Gurdaspur sector on December 31.