India has set up eight laser walls along the shared border with Pakistan and plans to activate yet another four more over the next few days, the popular local daily Times of India reported, citing a senior Indian Border Security Force (BSF) official.
A laser wall is a mechanism to detect objects passing the line of sight between the laser source and the detector. A laser beam over a river sets off a loud siren in case of a breach. The laser walls will cover stretches of treacherous terrain and riverine areas.
India plans to cover more than 40 vulnerable unfenced stretches along the Pakistan border with laser walls, with the home ministry giving it a top priority to prevent any infiltration, Times of India said in an earlier report quoting a home ministry official.
The laser walls will be monitored by the BSF, the report said.
India stepped up efforts to secure the border in the wake of an attack on the Pathankot airbase, which India alleged was stormed by terrorists who crossed over from Pakistan.
The suspected infiltration point of Ujj river in Bamiyal, which India alleged was used by six Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists who attacked the airbase, was not covered by a laser wall.
The BSF covered this stretch by putting up a laser wall before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the airbase on Jan 9.
The border force had started putting up the wall on unfenced riverine stretches last year in Jammu sector, which was more prone to terrorist intrusions till three terrorists carried out an attack in Gurdaspur in Punjab in July.
The terrorists were believed to have entered India 5km downstream of Bamiyal near the Tash border outpost — a riverine point not covered by a laser wall as well. Bamiyal has BSF posts on either side of the river with a man on each post keeping a watch on the river round the clock.
