The discovery of a tunnel 300 metres inside the Indian territory from Pakistan has forced the government to soon initiate an extensive seismic and geological survey all along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC).
Highly placed government sources said the survey will start immediately after the Border Security Force(BSF) sends a detailed report to the government which is expected in the next few days.
A BSF team, led by an IG level officer, is already camping in the Samba sector where the tunnel was discovered. The security agencies are formulating a detailed report on the contentious issue which will be sent to various ministries and agencies in the government.
What has alarmed the government is that this is the second time a tunnel has been found along the border in Jammu and Kashmir. A few months ago, a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militant was arrested while infiltrating into India using a similar modus operandi.
He had also revealed that at their training camps in PoK they were being trained in different techniques to infiltrate into India.
Government sources admit that they have been negligent to this particular aspect of infiltration and despite two attempts, the security agencies still don’t have a comprehensive data on how many such tunnels exits along the Indo-Pakistan border.
Thus, sources say, it has become imperative for the security forces now to conduct a detailed study with help from other geological and seismic agencies of the government. A formal request for this will be sent out along with BSF’s report on the issue.
Security agencies will also rope in the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for satellite imagery of sensitive sectors along the Indo- Pak border in J&K. Sources said these tunnels are not only used for infiltration but for narcotic smuggling also which not only is a highly lucrative business but also raises funds for financing militancy in India.
Security experts claim that a thorough examination of the tunnel reveals that it has been built with expert knowledge.