NVI Exclusive
New Delhi (NVI): After detection of a tunnel in Samba used by four Pakistani terrorists to sneak into India, the Border Security Force (BSF) is scanning the entire stretch of International Border to see if there are any more such underground infiltration routes.
The tunnel, whose outlet was found about 150 meters inside the Indian territory in Samba in Jammu and Kashmir, is about 5 ft x 5ft in size.
Construction of the tunnel, particularly its mouth, was such that it could have been easily dismissed as some pit hole in an area having wild growth. That is why the four heavily-armed terrorists could sneak in undetected before they were intercepted by security forces and killed in an encounter in Nagrota, on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on November 19.
BSF, which is responsible for manning the International Border, has carried out a thorough examination of the tunnel, with Commandant Surendra Rathore doing the deep dive.
The examination threw light to certain details like the tunnel has been professionally, which points to the role of the Pakistani establishment which would have roped in some persons knowing the craft, sources told NVI.
Also, the terrorists were possibly helped physically on the Pakistani side of the tunnel, particularly in ensuring fresh air for the infiltrators to breathe while inside, and this too could not be possible without the connivance or direct involvement of the Pakistani Rangers, which has the responsibility of manning the border on the other side.
It is likely that the terrorists received help on this side too in ensuring their easy exit from the tunnel, particularly by removing the camouflage used to cover the outlet in Samba.
All these aspects are being investigated, along with the hunt to find out if there are any more such tunnels anywhere along the International Border.
Since the tunnel has been examined properly, it will be easier to locate any such infiltration route, the sources said.
The terrorists, after exiting from the tunnel, were picked up in a truck some kilometres away from the border and were on their way to Kashmir when they were intercepted.
The truck driver managed to escape during the encounter and the security forces are on a hunt to track him down, along with other possible persons who were to receive the Pakistani terrorists in Kashmir.
