News Souce: IndiaToday
Majority of youngsters lose their lives in Punjab because of the persistent drug problem of the State. The reason attributed to the mass consumption of heroin in Punjab is its proximity to the drug smuggling countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.
But the smuggling of heroine in huge quantities has not only resulted in destruction of families due to drug consumption but has also helped terrorists launch the most recent attack that shocked Pathankot. The weapons utilized in the attack is suspected to have been part of a drug consignment that was smuggled into the India.
How does the smuggling of such large consignments go unnoticed by the border forces? The answer is that it doesn’t. The BSF officers are bribed to let the smugglers carry on their activities. The large network of couriers on either side of the border have a well-maintained system of plastic pipes and tunnels to push these drugs into India.
Heroin is not the only illegal thing that enters India through the borders. A large no. of combat weapons and arms are smuggled in the name of drugs. These consignments are moving in under the supervision of our very own soldiers as they are being paid upto Rs 50,000 to assist in the smuggling activities. The Indian couriers are instructed to hold onto these arms until further instructions arrive. This is exactly how the terrorists gained access to arms that were able to cause so much destruction in the Pathankot attacks.
Three BSF officers have already been arrested for accepting bribes and assisting smugglers. One of the officers arrested recently, Harpratap Singh, has revealed disturbing details about the smuggling methods that have been in place at the border. Harpratap narrates “The Pakistani smugglers would come from the clearing on their side. The Indian couriers would be waiting in the shrubs for them. This is the area in which I was deployed. They would climb a tree and throw the consignment so that it would not get stuck in the wire. Once the consignment landed then the couriers on the Indian side would pick it up.”
With our own forces at the border succumbing to bribe offers and betraying the country’s security interests, there is no surprise attack at Pathankot was of such a large scale.
