Aircraft-shaped balloons with the name of "Pakistan International Airlines" printed on them were recovered on Tuesday from two different states sharing international border with Pakistan, as per media reports.
Two similar incidents have been reported in Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan.
A balloon in the shape of an aeroplane in green and white with the letters BHN and emirates printed on it was recovered in the Samba area of Nadd in Jammu And Kashmir. Further research is being conducted, Jammu and Kashmir Police stated, news agency ANI reported.
Similar to the one found in Samba, an aircraft-shaped balloon, which had the name of the Pakistan International Airlines printed on it, was found in Rajasthan's Bikaner district on Tuesday, police said, PTI reported.
The balloon, which was coloured white and green, was found in the Dantaur police station area. Pakistan International Airlines was printed on it, Khajuwala circle officer Vinod Kumar said, PTI reported.
Apparently, the balloon landed after crossing the international border.
Both the cases are being investigated in their respective states.
This is to be noted that both balloons discovered were green in colour, shaped like an aeroplane, and had the name "Pakistan International Airlines" printed on them.
So far this year, the Border Security Force (BSF) has detected 186 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on the international border with Pakistan in Punjab, 20 in Jammu and Rajasthan, and four in Gujarat - a significant rise over the 2021 estimates.
According to BSF data, 47 UAVs were detected in Punjab in 2020, 64 in 2021, and 186 up till October 15 of this year.
Four Indian states shares border with Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir has longest border with Pakistan, having a length of 1222 km, followed by Rajasthan with 1179 km.
(With Inputs From Agencies)