Smugglers are being tracked from the sky along the India-Bangladesh border.

The BSF guarding the international border has started using drones for surveillance, which is catching the smugglers by surprise.

On Wednesday evening, the BSF managed to capture seven cows that were allegedly being smuggled into Bangladesh.

“A drone operator captured the movement of a group of smugglers who were approaching the international boundary with seven cattle in the Dahagram Angarpota area in Cooch Behar district on Wednesday evening,” a source in the BSF said.

The patrolling guards were immediately alerted to the movement.

“The moment the smugglers reached the Oran border outpost, the guards rushed to apprehend them. But the smugglers managed to escape, taking advantage of the darkness and the fog,” the source added.

The BSF, however, continued to scan the area and late in the evening, the force managed to locate the seven cattle, which were seized.

“Night vision devices are fitted to the drones, which is making patrolling efficient even during the nighttime,” said a source.

Sources said three seizures had been made possible so far because of the use of drones.

“There were similar seizures made by the on-duty border guards on September 29 and September 30 at the Oran and Arjun outposts (in Cooch Behar district) and on November 10 at the Bhuttabari BOP in Jalpaiguri district,” the source said.

The BSF said it was using drones only on the Indian territory. “The BSF’s north Bengal frontier guards the Bangladesh border of around 939km but we are concentrating on the use of drones along a stretch of 150km,” said a BSF officer.

The officer has added that the 150km-stretch has riverine areas. “This is the area that smugglers have been taking advantage of,” said an officer. The border has been a hotspot for illegal cross-border activities for several years.