New Delhi: Taking lessons from Terror attack in Pakistan near Wagah Border in November last year, the Border Security Force (BSF) has decided to bullet-proof the gates of Attari, Hussaniwala and Sadqi to strengthen its defence against any cross-border attack.
On November 2, 2014, a suicide bomber of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, had blown himself up near the viewers' gallery at Wagah, killing 60 Pakistanis.
The attack took place near the checkpoint at the Wagah border crossing in Lahore after the display of military pageantry that attracts thousands of spectators every day. The blast led to Indian security forces beefing up security measures. Though no Indian troops were hurt, the blast left windows and doors of the BSF post shaking. Most of the people who died in the blast were returning from the ceremony.
It will be a first instance since the partition when rolling bullet-proof screens are installed in front of Attari border gates to protect viewers from any direct small arm fire from across the border or from stray splinters in case of a suicide bombing near the border.
According to a report published in The Times of India, BSF deputy inspector general, Amritsar sector, MF Farooqui said, Indian security forces can't depend upon Pak Rangers' security arrangements.
Thousands of visitors come for the Attari beating retreat ceremony every day, but the number of people going to Hussaniwala and Sadqi is much lower.
Farooqui said he had also proposed installing bullet-proof glass on either side of the border gate at Attari in case of any direct fire from the Pakistani side.
Sources said bullet-proof glass walls would also be installed at Hussaniwala, Ferozepur and Sadqi international border outposts.
At Hussaniwala, the international border diagonally cuts across the road to Pakistan and viewers of both nations sit in close proximity in a verandah-like enclosure and watch as border guards of both nations cross the international border to lower their respective flags.
