Tuesday 01 / July / 2025
Pathankot: An empty Pakistani boat, which drifted into Indian territory, was on Tuesday seized by Border Security Force (BSF) troops from Ravi River in Punjab's Amritsar district and it will be handed over to the Pakistani Rangers, to whom it belongs, on Wednesday.
"We have captured a Pakistani boat which had washed away to this side in River Ravi along the International Border (IB) in Amritsar sector," DIG BSF R. S. Kataria said. It was an empty boat.
Nothing suspicious was found so the boat will be returned to Pakistani rangers on Wednesday, he said.
Giving further details, the DIG BSF said the forward deployed BSF troops observed the boat coming from Pakistan side in River Ravi. The troops immediately alerted the BSF personnel stationed at the ferry point of border outpost near Kakkar. They then seized the said boat, he said.
The green-coloured boat is about 15 ft x 6 ft in size, he said. The items found in the boat included a 16-feet bamboo stick of 2.5 inch diameter, a wooden picket of 3 feet length, a small Pakistan Flag and Multan-made candy, the DIG said.
Kataria said that a flag meeting was conducted with Pakistani Rangers wherein they accepted that the iron boat belonged to the Pakistani Rangers Post New Balam. They said the boat drifted from Pakistan side to Indian side due to strong currents, the DIG said.
The seizure comes at a time when there is heightened vigil due to tension between India and Pakistan. Another Pakistani boat with nine crew members was apprehended off the Gujarat coast by the Indian Coast Guard on October 2.
