VDCs to spot Pak drones, report retrievers: Purohit

AMRITSAR: The drone emergency response system (DERS) adopted by the Amritsar border range police and all the six Punjab districts along Pakistan now allows all the security and intelligence agencies — of the Centre, state, or district — to coordinate with the village defence committees (VDCs).
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit has announced that these VDCs have been formed within 10 kilometres of the Pakistan border to tackle cross-border smuggling and drone intrusions.The VDCs will identify and report the smugglers who retrieve the arms and drugs from the drop zones of Pakistani drones. The top VDC will win Rs 3 lakh, the second Rs 2 lakh, and the third Rs 1 lakh, besides being honoured on Republic Day. If it works, the VDC radius will be extended to 15 km.

Border range deputy inspector general (DIG) of police Narender Bhargave claimed on Thursday that security agencies will meet the VDCs regularly for sharing the inputs. The DIG said that: “We are strengthening the VDCs and making these functional. The village police officer (VPO) nominated from the police force will be their link to the station house officers (SHOs), superintendents, and SSPs. The VPO will also prepare a weekly duty chart for the daily night-patrol in batches of three.”
The SHOs will administer WhatsApp groups for this daily interaction. The VPO will stay with the patrol team the entire night and maintain a village information system (VIS) beat book. Members of the VDCs will get a jacket uniform, ID, and rewards for being the second line of defence against intruders.
All the villages on the zero line will be listed district-wise. Amritsar has 106 villages within 2 kilometres of this line, 148 within 2 to 5 km, and 188 in a 5-to-10-km radius. In the first tier of 106 villages, police will prepare a list of smugglers, couriers, drug peddlers, anti-social elements, and habitual offenders along with their 10-year history and telephone numbers. Governor Purhoit claimed that Pakistan wouldn’t risk a direct conflict, so it had resorted to a covert war, which India must find a way to counter. He claimed to have worked for sealing the border since assuming office and made five visits, four of those official, to the zero line, engaging with the villagers, cops, civic administration, troops, and intelligence agencies.