The BSF Gujarat Frontier also made functional contact with border-deployed Pakistan Rangers at the level of company commander to ensure proper communication.

BSF Gujarat Frontier personnel last year apprehended three Pakistanis, two Bangladeshis and 24 Indians from near the international border with Pakistan, and also foiled attempts to smuggle narcotics from the neighbouring country, the force said on Monday.

The Border Security Force Gujarat Frontier takes care of the security of 826 kilometers of the international border from Barmer district in Rajasthan to Gujarat, including 85 kilometres of coastal area.

Of the 24 Indian nationals apprehended near the international border, two were Punjab-based smugglers found to be involved in trans-border crimes, and had come to the border area in Barmer sector in Rajasthan to receive a consignment of 15 kg heroin from Pakistan-based smugglers, it said in a release.

Also, from June, 2020 till date, the BSF and other agencies have recovered 1,428 suspected packets of Charas from Jakhau port area along the Gujarat coast, GS Malik, Inspector General, BSF Gujarat said at a media briefing at its headquarters in Gandhinagar on Monday.

"Charas packets seized are part of the drugs thrown into the sea off the Karachi coast by Pakistani smugglers. Moreover, three Pakistani intruders apprehended from near the border, including a child and an elderly person, were returned to the neighbouring country as part of confidence building measures because they were found to have crossed the border inadvertently," he said.

They were apprehended ahead of the fence, between the international border and the fence, which is generally located at a distance of around 150 yards from IB inside Indian territory, Malik said.

The BSF Gujarat Frontier also made functional contact with border-deployed Pakistan Rangers at the level of company commander to ensure proper communication, and this also involved the exchange of sweets as well as goodwill gestures during Eid, Diwali and on Independence Day of both India and Pakistan, he said.

"We have effectively dominated the International Border all along despite multiple challenges. For the first time in ten years, no intrusion took place in 2021 from the Pakistan side into India from Harami nalla area and the creeks due to effective checking of movement of Pakistani fishing boats and other intrusions," the IPS officer said.

The BSF Gujarat Frontier also extended help to the marginalised border population by distributing rations, medicines and restoring employment activities during the second wave of COVID-19 last year, said Malik.

"Despite a large number of BSF personnel in quarantine, border management was effectively ensured. Entire strength of BSF Gujarat Frontier has been vaccinated with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Booster doses are being administered effectively at a rapid pace," he said.