Chandigarh: Taking serious note of the perceptible increase in drone movement from across the international border since the farmers’ protests started gathering heat in October 2020, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday declared that “as long as I am here, no Khalistani or Pakistani or any other terrorist activity will be allowed to disturb the peace of the state.”
Terming the national security threat perception real, the Chief Minister said he had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah amid the farmers’ agitation to discuss this grave issue and to ask him why Central forces could not be provided adequate equipment to locate and shoot down the drones.
Currently, the Khalistani cells in Punjab were dormant but they were being fed with weapons via the drones to activate them to create trouble, said Amarinder Singh, vowing to break the back of this movement.
Any breach of the Punjab border was a breach of national security, said Amarinder Singh, while interacting with media on the completion of four years of his government.
While a large number of weapons had been seized near the borders, what was the cause of worry was those which had not been caught, he said, adding “I am worried about where those are.”
Giving details of the arrests and seizures since his government took over in March 2017, the Chief Minister said 333 modules of terrorists and gangsters had been busted, while 3,472 militants and gangsters had been arrested.
Ten drones had been picked up, in addition to 2,000-odd weapons, including rifles, revolvers, pistols, etc., hand grenades, RDX and other explosives, walkie-talkies and satellite phones.
As many as 11,000 rounds of ammunition had also been seized, he said. These are not small numbers for a small state like Punjab, he added.
IANS