BHUBANESWAR  SATURDAY  MAY 10, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  JEYPORE EDITION TWO-DOZEN CRPF COMPANIES MOVING TO J&K TO AID ARMY After a high-level security meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah, the govt decided to move additional personnel of the CRPF to Jammu & Kashmir for strategic security adjustment 2,400 PERSONNEL OF CRPF FROM TWO-DOZEN COMPANIES BEING SENT Pak fires drones at 26 sites, debris falls on house in Punjab HARPREET BAJWA & RAJESH A S N A N I @ Chandigarh/Jaipur RATCHETING up its conflict with India, Pakistan launched drones at key Indian locations for the second consecutive night on Friday. Drones were spotted in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Rajasthan, officials said. Reports said Pakistan targeted Srinagar airport and Awantipora air base but Indian forces thwarted the attempts. Some reports said blasts were heard in Jammu and parts of the south Kashmir region. Sources said Pakistani d r o n e s we r e s i g h t e d i n Pathankot, Ferozepur, and Fazilka districts in Punjab and along the Pakistan border areas in Rajasthan, besides Samba and Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian forces intercepted and nutralised all drones, officials added. However, in Punjab, a drone exploded as it was being neutralised and fell on a house, causing burn injuries to three persons. The condition of one person is said to be critical. “There was heavy drone attack at Khai Pheme Ki village near Ferozepur. One of the drones that was neutralised fell down like a ball of fire on to a house, injuring three. One lady who was cooking at the time of the incident suffered extensive burn injuries. A CNG car parked outside the house caused a blast and the house caught fire,” said an official. Sources said the Village is situated close to the army cantonment, which may have been the target of the attack. “Drones have been sighted at 26 locations ranging from the Baramulla in the North to Bhuj in the South, along both the International Border and the Line of Control with Pakistan. These include suspected armed drones posing potential threats to civilian and military targets,” the Army said. The locations include Baramulla, Srinagar, Avantipora, Nagrota, Jammu, Ferozpur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Lalgarh Jatta, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, Kuarbet and Lakhi Nala, it added. Vital installations, religious places being fortified: Majhi E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar WITH war clouds looming large, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday asserted that all necessary steps have been taken to protect vital installations and religious places in Odisha. The chief minister told mediapersons that the Centre is prepared deal with any situation arising out of India’s resolve to stamp out terrorism from the country The state government on . its part has taken robust steps to enhance security at key locations after thorough assessment of potential threats. Stating that the state government is fully prepared, the chief minister assured that there is nothing to panic. He said Odisha does not face much threat at present but there are places like DRDO’s integrated test range at Chandipur in Balasore district, Shree Jagannath temple in Puri and other locations which can be likely targets from the side of the Bay of Bengal. On Friday he reviewed the security situation , with chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, DGP YB Khurania and other senior officials. He said security reinforcements were discussed at the high-level meeting. Strict security checks will be implemented and measures are being taken to seal sensitive areas, he said. The chief minister said steps are also being taken by the state government to bring back Odias including students who have been stranded at places in northern and western India, particularly those in the India-Pak border which are witnessing missile CONTINUED ON P5 and drone attacks by the latter. TURKISH HEARTLESS PAKISTAN MILITARY PUT CIVILIAN FLIERS IN HARM’S WAY FINGERPRINT SEEN IN DOWNED On May 7, the day India took out Pak’s terror infra, the neighbour did not close its civil airspace while trying to attack Indian installations with drones and missiles. Else, it knew the strikes would draw a swift Indian response. In effect, it used its civil airliners as a shield. The defence ministry shared screenshots of flight movement on the website flightradar24 to prove its point (see map) DRONES WHOPPING 400 ATTACK DRONES ON 1 LONG NIGHT Pakistan attempted to target military infra with 300-400 drones across 36 locations from Leh in the North to Sir Creek in Gujarat. Many of them were neutralised. The govt reckons that they were meant to test the Indian air defence systems and collect intelligence M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi OPERATIONAL details shared by the government on Friday showed the massive scale of Pakistan’s incursion the previous night, as it deployed 300-400 drones across 36 locations from Leh in the North to the Sir Creek region in Gujarat. While the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) attempted to target the military infrastructure, Indian forces neutralised many of them using kinetic (blowing them away) and nonkinetic (jamming) means, a defence ministry spokesperson said. An armed drone strike on Bhatinda in Punjab was also thwarted. India retaliated by launching drone strikes on four Pakistani air defence sites, destroying a radar. Apart from the aerial attacks, Pakistan resorted to heavy artillery fire across the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in Indian Army casualties. India gave a fitting response, the government shared. In an official briefing, Wing SINDOOR SOLIDARITY Congress workers and supporters carry a huge Tricolour during their ‘Tiranga Yatra’ to hail Operation Sindoor, in Bengaluru, on Friday. The party took out similar marches in Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Odisha | PTI Commander Vyomika Singh said that Pakistan’s shelling using heavy-calibre artillery guns and armed drones caused some losses and injuries to Indian Army personnel. “The possible purpose of such large-scale aerial intrusions was to test air defence systems and collect intelligence. Forensic investigation of the wreckage of the drones is being done. Initial reports suggest that they are Turkish Asisguard Songar drones,” the officer said. Besides, Pakistan showed scant respect for civilians as it kept its civil airspace open during its counter-assault on May 7, the day India took out the terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, said the spokesperson. Pakistan apparently used the civilian fliers as a shield to ward off India’s fierce response. The officer caustically said, “Pakistan is using civil airliners as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including the international flights which were flying near the International Border between India and Pakistan.” Sharing a screenshot of flight movement on the website flightradar24, the officer underscored that the Indian Air Force demonstrated considerable restraint in its response, thus ensuring safety of the international flights. Modi meets defence brass RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR AND M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi AMID fresh escalations from Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a crucial highlevel meeting with the chiefs of all three armed services—Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh were also there at the meeting held at the PM’s residence on Friday evening. The meeting came in the backdrop of Pakistan’s attempts to launch drone and missile strikes in Jammu, Punjab and other parts of the country on Thursday night. “Full details were shared with the PM who in turn asked the service chiefs to do the needful to teach a lesson to the enemies,” a source said. Before his meeting with the three service chiefs, Prime Minister Modi met armed forces veterans at his residence. BCCI SUSPENDS IPL GAMES FOR A WEEK G O M E S H S @ Chennai WITH military operations escalating in the India and Pakistan border, the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended for one week. The BCCI made the decision public after a meeting with all stakeholders including the f r a n ch i s e s o n F r i d ay morning. “Further updates regarding the new schedule and venues of the tournament will be announced in due course after a comprehensive assessment of the situation in consultation with relevant authorities and stakeholders,” the BCCI said in a statement. This looked inevitable after the match between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings was called off midway because of security reasons. With conflict b e t we e n t h e t wo neighbours escalating and some of the matches to be held in Delhi, Chandigarh and Jaipur, BCCI was left with little choice. INDIA ABSTAINS FROM IMF VOTE ON LOAN TO PAKISTAN India abstained from the IMF vote on Pakistan’s loan programmes on Friday, stating its concerns over its funds being misused for state sponsored cross- border terrorism. “Rewarding continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism sends a dangerous message to the global community, exposes funding agencies and donors to reputational risks, and makes a mockery of global values,” India said. The IMF took note of the abstention The Punjab and Delhi teams were brought to New Delhi on a special Vande Bharat train from Jalandhar while the other franchises have returned to their bases with the players either going home both in India and overseas. Meanwhile, the inaugural Neeraj Chopra Classic, which was scheduled to be held on May 24 in Bengaluru, was postponed as well. During the intervening night of May 8 and 9, Pakistan carried out strikes using 300-400 drones against India at 36 locations along the western borders from Leh in the north to Sir Creek in Gujarat Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said preliminary examination of downed drones showed they were Turkey’s Asisguard Songars 1 The Songar has five variants, including a noncombat one. Can be used “effectively in any kind of day/ night military and security operations”. It has a range of about 10 km, with a load carrying capacity of 45 kg, an option for asymmetric threats 2 Developed by Asisguard, an Ankara-based firm, Songar is a low-altitude, quadrotor, UAV that was developed for the Turkish armed forces. Has been in use since 2020 for battlefield operations as well as internal security duties 3 SONGAR has an autonomous take-off and landing capability. It is integrated with a machine gun and grenade launcher. With the capability of real-time image transmission, it can detect target area, neutralise threat and damage detection 4 Pakistan’s drone inventory includes those made by China (CH-4) and Turkey (Bayraktar Akinci). Pakistan also has its own drones and loitering ammunitions 5 9 KG Payload 25 MIN Max. flight time Turkey’s Asisguard Sonagar