Days after an attack on the Jammu airbase, drones were again spotted hovering over military installations in Jammu’s Ratnuchak-Kaluchak and Sunjuwan areas in the early hours of June 29, news reports suggest.
The drones were spotted between 12.30 am to 4.30 am, the Hindustan Times reported quoting a police officer. Senior police superintendent Chandan Kohli told the newspaper that the Indian Army had informed them about drones being spotted. The police were looking into the matter.
An army brigade is stationed at Sunjuwan. The defense forces have not yet issued a statement on this fresh drone sighting. The Sunjuwan army facility was attacked by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in February 2018. The incident had led to the death of six soldiers and a civilian, besides injures to 20 others. The three attackers were also killed.
Drones were also reportedly spotted over Ratnuchak-Kaluchak’s military area on June 28, which prompted soldiers to fire at them.
The Centre, on June 29, handed over the probe into the Jammu airport drone attack to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). On June 27, two bombs were dropped at the Indian Air Force (IAF) airbase, injuring two personnel. The first explosion happened at around 1.40 am followed by another six minutes later.
Officials said that the first blast had ripped through the roof of a single-story building at the high-security technical area of the airport. The second blast happened in an open area.
The dual-use airport belongs to the IAF but is also used for commercial flight operations. It is located on the outskirts of Jammu city.
Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh had also said that another major strike had been averted when a person, suspected to be affiliated with another Pakistan-based terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was arrested along with an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing around 6 kilograms in Jammu. This came at a time when officials were investigating the drone attack at the airbase.
Earlier news reports suggested that investigative agencies are probing Pakistan’s possible involvement in the incidents.
The ceasefire between India and Pakistan has largely been maintained along the Line of Control (LoC) since February. However, Pakistan Rangers had reportedly violated the ceasefire along the international borders in the Ramgarh sector of Samba, Jammu and Kashmir on May 3. India’s Border Security Force (BSF) said it retaliated to the violation. No loss of life was reported.
