PATHANKOT: He had taken six bullets in his stomach and the terrorists at the Pathankot airbase were still targeting him, but he continued braving the bullets till he fell unconscious after nearly half an hour’s fight.
Sailesh Gaur, an elite commando of Garud Commando Force, along with his 11 colleagues, continued safeguarding the assigned area.
Doctors at the Pathankot military hospital, where he is recuperating, claimed that Gaur would be fit in a few days to resume work. In the attack on January 2, Gaur was assigned to protect the mechanical transport wing at the airbase where the Garud team was divided into six teams of 11 each. This was the vital part of the airbase that terrorists had targeted.
BSF misusing tech to aid smugglers
Sharing locations through mobile apps for a few thousand rupees
SAS NAGAR: The arrest of BSF constable Anil Kumar by the Crime Investigating Agency (CIA) of SAS Nagar police in connection with cross-border smuggling has not only brought to fore the nexus between BSF personnel and drug smugglers, but has also led to the revelation as how some these border guards are using technology to aid smugglers.
Compromising with the security of the nation, some BSF personnel are sharing their positioning along the border through mobile phone application, including WhatsApp and Google maps, for just a few thousand rupees.
“Anil Kumar through WhatsApp and Google map used to share his posting along the border to facilitate the smugglers in cross-border smuggling,” said Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, SSP, SAS Nagar.
He added, “We are probing into the roles of other BSF jawans who may have aided in cross-border smuggling. BSF is also holding an internal probe to trace the moles in the security forces.” Anil’s involvement in the crime was revealed during the interrogation of the three herion smugglers -Gurjant Singh alias Bhollu, 26; Sandeep Singh, 25, residents of Tarn Taran and Jatinder Singh alias Jindi, 34, a resident of Ludhiana – who were arrested by the police with cache of arms and ammunition smuggled from Pakistan on December 29.
“Gurjant and his brother Gurbir, who died in 2013, acted as couriers as they had their land on both sides of the border. Gurbir had contacts in the BSF, which he used to exploit for easy movement of smuggled drugs and arms. We are retrieving his contacts in BSF and probing their role,” Bhullar said.
Anil Kumar (29), a resident of Amritsar, had joined BSF in 2008 and was a constable with the 52 Battalion, posted near Sriganganagar, during the time of his arrest.
Kumar admitted to the police that it was during a marriage in Tarn Taran in January 2014 that he met a group of crossborder smugglers, who put him in touch with Pakistan-based smuggler Imtiaz Ali. And it was Imtiaz who had put him in touch with Gurjant . Since the last seven months, he had been in regular touch with them through WhatsApp and Google map.
BSF MEN UNDER SCANNER EARLIER AS WELL
In 2009, Gurjant was introduced to one Hardev Singh, a BSF jawan and a resident of Jalandhar, who was posted at Khalra border. Hardev had helped the smugglers bring 70-kg herion from across the border.
Then in 2010, they had on two different occasions smuggled narcotics weighing 16 kg each along with two pistols from Pakistan with the help of BSF personnel. They then came in contact with Gurdev, a BSF personnel posted at Fazilka border. He had helped Gurjant smuggle 22.5-kg opium, three .3 bore pistols and two.9 mm pistols.
Both Hardev and Gurdev were arrested by the Punjab Police.
NIGERIANS HELPED DISTRIBUTE NARCOTICS
The narcotics smuggled from Pakistan through Rajasthan and Ferozepur-Fazilka border was handed over to the Nigerians, who used to act as agents to dispose of the narcotics in different parts of the country.
MAN WHO HELPED SMUGGLERS GET PASSPORT ARRESTED
Meanwhile, the Punjab police have also arrested Deepak Kumar (29), who had helped Gurjant procure passport, driving licenses, adhaar card and other identity proofs on fake identity. Police have recovered two passports in the name of Gurjant Singh, while two driving licenses and other documents each in the name of Gurjant, Sandeep and Jatinder.
Deepak earlier used to run a mobile shop and through software had created fake identities for the accused to facilitate them get documents like passport, driving license and adhaar card. “We are probing role of government officials, including cops, who carried out the mandatory verification for issuing the passport,” said Bhullar.