India plans to cover the Pakistan, India border in Punjab with laser walls to prevent cross-border infiltration, according to NDTV.
“All these riverine stretches located in Punjab will be covered by the laser wall technology developed by Border Security Force (BSF) to completely eliminate the chances of breach of the international border by Pakistan-based terror groups,” a Home Ministry official said.
As of now only five to six of around 40 vulnerable unfenced stretches along the Pakistan-India border in Punjab are covered by laser walls. A laser wall detects objects passing the line of sight between the laser source and the detector. A laser beam over a river sets off a loud siren in case of a breach.
The suspected infiltration point of Ujj river in Bamiyal allegedly used by the six Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists before storming the Pathankot air base was not covered by a laser wall, the report said. A camera to keep watch over the 130-metre-wide river bed was in place but was not recording.
Before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Pathankot air base on January 9 last week, BSF covered this stretch by putting up a laser wall.
There are BSF posts on either side of the river in Bamiyal with a personnel on each post keeping a watch on the river through the day and night.
Last year, the Indian border guarding force had started erecting laser walls on unfenced riverine stretches of international border in Jammu sector. The area is also lit up with high mast lights.
There is speculation that the six JeM terrorists might have walked through the dry river bed at night and BSF personnel might have missed them.
Following the attack in Pathankot, additional personnel have been deployed along the border in Punjab and boat patrolling has been intensified, particularly during night.