5 terrorists in Army uniform fire at bus stand, storm police station; blast on rail track averted
TIA NEWS / AMN /
At least 7 persons including Gurdaspur an SP, were killed and 18 injured when heavily armed terrorists wearing army uniform hijacked a car, drove down to Dinanagar town in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, opened fire indiscriminately at a bus stand and then stormed a police station in the town.
SP (detective) Baljit Singh was seriously injured in the gunfire after which he was taken to hospital where he breathed his last.
The major terror strike rocked Punjab’s Gurdaspur early this morning when 3-4 armed terrorists in army uniforms opened fire at a passenger bus and attacked Dinanagar police station.
3 civilians and 2 Home guard personnel were also killed in the early morning strike. One terrorist has been gunned down while another is reportedly seriously injured.
The Encounter is still on.
7 civilians have also been injured in the attack.
Terrorists are holed up inside a building and police and security forces have cordoned off the area.
While the authorities had so far confirmed only seven deaths, unconfirmed reports said the toll was 13
Punjab Police DGP Sumedh Singh Saini was said to be supervising the operation, which had not been handed over to the Army. Special forces of the Army and NSG as well as Punjab Police commandos have taken up positions around Dinanagar police station.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he had spoken to D.K. Pathak, Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF), and instructed him to step up the vigil on India-Pakistan border in the wake of the attack in Gurdaspur.
This was the first major terror attack in Punjab following the assassination of then Chief Minister Beant Singh on August 31, 1995.
Army has launched an operation against the militants numbering about five who are holed up in Dinanagar police station complex. The assailants also targeted a building where the families of police personnel reside and threw grenades. According to police, the mayhem started at about 5 AM when the attackers first targeted a roadside eatery and took off in a car after killing a person who was sleeping near Dinanagar bypass. They opened fire on a moving bus, in which four passengers were injured, they said. They also targeted a community health centre adjacent to Dinanagar police station, in which a policeman and three civilians including a woman who were present in the premises were killed.
Army was called in from Pathankot and the whole area has been cordoned off. Quick Reaction Teams, bomb squads, heavy police including senior officers have also been deployed in the area which lies close to the Indo-Pakistan border. Two army helicopters were also pressed into the operation. Special forces too have been deployed and a gun-battle was on several hours after the mayhem started. However, there are no reports of a hostage situation.
In a related development, five live bombs were found on Amritsar-Pathankot railway track and the train services on the route had been suspended. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval about the situation. Singh assured Badal of full central assistance to tackle the situation. Home Ministry has also asked BSF to enhance vigil along the entire international border with Pakistan.
The Home Minister said the central government is monitoring the situation and he was confident that the situation would be brought under control. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal summoned an emergency meeting in view of the incident. All schools and colleges in the district have been closed.
PM holds meeting with senior ministers in wake of Punjab terror attack
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a meeting with senior Ministers at Parliament House this morning in view of terror attack in Punjab.
The meeting was attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu.