Stepping up its counter-drone capabilities along the sensitive border belt, the Punjab Police has decided to deploy drones at identified hotspots in Amritsar district where Pakistani drones have repeatedly been used to drop consignments of drugs, weapons and explosives.Two drones will be deployed at strategic locations close to the International Border to supplement the existing anti-drone systems installed in the area. Besides monitoring aerial activity, the drones are expected to help security agencies track the movement of suspected drug peddlers who enter border villages to retrieve consignments dropped by drones from across the border.IG, Border Range, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, along with senior Border Security Force officials, including DIG BSF, Amritsar, SS Chandel, today visited Maude village, located close to the Indo-Pak border, to review security arrangements and the counter-drone mechanism.Bhullar said the police had identified vulnerable points from where drones were being used to push consignments, including narcotics, weapons and explosives, from across the border into Indian territory.He said the Punjab Police had already procured and deployed anti-drone systems, which would be further strengthened. The BSF, too, has surveillance and anti-drone capabilities, and greater “dovetailing” of the resources and deployment of both forces would help improve response and recovery during drone incidents.The newly deployed drones would provide an additional surveillance layer to the existing anti-drone systems, particularly in vulnerable stretches and border villages. They could also assist in tracking the movement of suspects who come to retrieve the consignments dropped by Pakistani drones.The deployment assumes significance amid the growing use of drones by Pakistan-based handlers to push narcotics, arms and ammunition into Punjab. While anti-drone systems are aimed primarily at detecting and neutralising hostile UAVs, the police drones would help maintain surveillance on the ground and track the suspected receivers of the consignments.Bhullar said more personnel would be attached to the anti-drone system to further strengthen surveillance and response capabilities along the border.Security agencies have increasingly been focusing on the Indian-side networks involved in receiving cross-border consignments. Tracking the movement of receivers could help the police identify local networks facilitating the smuggling of drugs and weapons and establish their links with handlers operating from across the border.The deployment is aimed at plugging the last-mile link in the cross-border smuggling network, with drones being increasingly used as a low-risk mode of delivery by Pakistan-based handlers.