PUNJAB SEALS BORDER SKIES WITH AI ANTIDRONE SHIELD

The system works with joint operations by the BSF and Punjab Police. AAP says it has ended old patronage networks and is building law-and-order credibility.

- TARUNI GANDHI

Punjab has thrown a major challenge to Pakistan-based smugglers with the deployment of Baaz Akh (Hawk Eye), an AIpowered anti-drone system designed to detect, track, and neutralise rogue unmanned aerial vehicles along the state's international border.

The move comes as Punjab's border belt - stretching 553 km from Pathankot to Fazilka continues to face relentless attempts by Pakistani handlers to push drugs, weapons, and explosives into the state using drones. With Baaz Akh now operational in key hotspots, security forces are aiming to turn the tide against a threat that has grown in scale and sophistication over the past six years.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, accompanied by Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, formally launched the system in Tarn Taran on Saturday, calling it a "game-changer" in the fight against narcotics and arms trafficking.

A MENACE GROWING IN SCALE

Punjab Police records show that the first documented interception of a cross-border drone delivery took place in September 2019 during a counter-intelligence operation against a Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module. Since then, the threat has escalated sharply.

Between September 2019 and 15 July 2025, Punjab's border districts reported 1,403 drone sightings and recovered 591 drones. The trendline reveals a clear and dangerous escalation: 2019-34 sightings, 2 recoveries 2020 49 sightings, 7 recoveries 2021 72 sightings, 1 recovery 2022 252 sightings, 28 recoveries 2023 325 sightings, 121 recoveries 2024 531 sightings, 294 recoveries 2025 (till July 15) - 140 sightings, 138 recoveries The year 2024 alone saw a ₹111% rise in sightings compared to 2022, and a fifteenfold increase compared to 2019. While the first half of 2025 has so far recorded fewer sightings, security officials caution that this may be due to altered smuggling tactics - with fewer but more targeted flights-rather than a decline in attempts.