Punjab encounter ends after 12 hours, 7 victims and 3 militants make up body count

Gurdaspur: Security forces fought a prolonged gunfight Monday with militants who attacked a moving bus and stormed into a police station in Dinanagar, a northern town bordering Pakistan, with at least nine people killed in the violence, officials said.

The attackers killed at least seven people - civilians and policemen - in the pre-dawn attack in Punjab, said Harcharan Singh Bains, a state government spokesman.

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The terrorists, suspected to be members of either Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) or Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), in army fatigues first targeted a roadside eatery, then sprayed bullets on a passenger bus and later barged into the Dinanagar police station.

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Seven persons--three civilians, Superintendent of Police (Detective), Baljit Singh, a Punjab provincial service officer, three home guards were killed by the terrorists, said GP Punjab Police Sumedh Singh Saini, who led the operation against the terrorists holed up in an abandoned building near the police station.

He said 15 were injured of whom three were in a serious condition in the attack by the terrorists who snatched a white Maruti 800 car and moved about in it before abandoning it.

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All the three militants were killed in the 12-hour-long gun battle with the police and elite commandos of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). Chinese-made weapons and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) were recovered from them, Saini said.

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Though there was no official word on who the attackers were, they are suspected to have sneaked into India from Pakistan through the unfenced border between Jammu and Pathankot or Chak Hira in Jammu district, according to inputs received by central agencies.

Earlier this year, terrorists belonging to JeM whose fidayeen combatants, clad in Army fatigues, stormed a police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua District on March 20 killing six persons, including three security force personnel.

"The operation is over," a top Punjab police official said at the end of the fierce gunbattle. Combing operations continued for some time after the multiple attacks and the building was sanitised.

According to Punjab Police IG (Counter Intelligence) Gaurav Yadav, SP Baljit Singh succumbed to bullet injuries sustained in the gun battle.

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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Army commandos had joined the police operations in Dinanagar, a small town in Gurdaspur district located 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of New Delhi.

The police had discovered five bombs on a railway track in the area, causing train service to be suspended, though it was unclear whether it was related to the attack.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said India would not be the first to strike, but if hit would give a fitting reply (muh tod jawab). “We want peace with Pakistan, but not at the cost of national honour,” he said, adding, “I can't understand why time and again cross border terror incidents take place when we want good relations with our neighbour.”

Read: Punjab terror attack: Rajnath Singh orders BSF to immediately move forces to assist police

Singh said he would make a statement on the attack in Parliament on Tuesday.

According to police, the attackers first targetted a roadside eatery at 5 am and took off in a white Maruti 800, which had a Punjab registration number. They shot dead a roadside vendor near the Dinanagar bypass. They then opened fire on passengers of a moving Punjab roadways bus before targetting a community health centre adjacent to Dinanagar police station.

The gunmen barged into the Dinanagar police station and opened indiscriminate fire. The militants also targetted another part of the complex where the families of police personnel stayed and hurled grenades.

Read: Punjab put on maximum alert after Gurdaspur terror attack

Official sources said it was too early to say which terrorist outfit had carried out the strike, but the finger of suspicion is on Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba as the modus operandi of the militants was similar to the attacks in Jammu region in recent past.

Police said out of the eight injured brought to civil hospital at Gurdaspur, seven seriously injured were referred to Amritsar. They all were aged between 15-54 years. One militant was killed and another seriously injured in the operation, Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur, Abhinav Trikha, said.

An AFP reporter at the scene said fierce firing could be heard around the police station in the town of Gurdaspur, bringing panicked residents out onto the streets.

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Deputy police commissioner Abhinav Trikha said the attackers were holed up in the residential quarters of the police station and were "firing continuously".

"There were three to four attackers. They were dressed in army uniforms and came in a Maruti car," he told reporters at the scene.

Local police spokesman Rajvinder Singh said he had witnessed a security officer taking a bullet during the stand-off.

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"I don't know his condition, but he was immediately rushed to the hospital. The operation is on and this is still a live-operation," Singh said.

The BSF has stepped up vigil along International Border. “We have enhanced vigil along the entire International Border with Pakistan. Our senior officers are currently in the Gurdaspur Sector," BSF IG, Punjab Frontier, Anil Paliwal said.

He further said Dinanagar town falls in the Gurdaspur Sector, which is a junction between Jammu and Punjab.

Read: Punjab terror attack: Situation under control in Gurdaspur, says Rajnath Singh

"DIG, Commandants and other officials of the BSF are in Gurdaspur. We are monitoring the situation," Paliwal said. Dinanagar town that lies close to Pakistan, falls between Gurdaspur town on one side and Pathankot on the other, and is about 260 km from Chandigarh.

Army was called in from Pathankot and the whole area has been cordoned off. Quick Reaction Teams, bomb squads, 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 operation and the gunbattle continues till now.

In a related development, five live bombs were found on Amritsar-Pathankot railway track and the train services on the route have 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.

Read: Punjab terror attack: Terrorists came from Narowal from Pakistan, claims IB

"I have spoken to the Punjab Chief Minister, who apprised me of the developing situation in Gurdaspur. Security forces have rushed to the spot," Singh, who is on his way to Madhya Pradesh, said.

The Home Minister said the central government was monitoring the situation and he was confident it would be brought under control. Rajnath Singh said he had ordered increased security on the border with Pakistan, although it remained unclear who was responsible for the attack.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal summoned an emergency meeting in view of the incident.

"The attackers, who were wearing Army uniform, entered the Dinanagar Police Station and opened fire at the police personnel. Among the injured was Dinanagar SHO Mukhtiar Singh," SSP Gurdaspur Gurpreet Singh said.

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The two sides were locked in a heavy exchange of fire, several hours after the incident, he added.

Security forces in Punjab went on "maximum alert" in the wake of the suspected terror attack in Gurdaspur district today, about three weeks ahead of Independence Day.

A senior police official said in view of the attack, "maximum alert" has been sounded across the state and security has been strengthened along its borders with neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir.

Additional police and other security personnel have been deployed around vital installations and key public places in the state, the official said.

He said the police has set up 'nakas' or check-points and intensified checking of vehicles.

Read: J&K police rushes bullet- proof vehicles to help Punjab in operations

BSF, which guards the Indo-Pak border, has also been put on high alert after the incident, he said.

Meanwhile, alert has also been sounded in neighbouring Haryana and Chandigarh, the common capital of both the states.

Security has also been strengthened in the national capital, bordering Rajasthan and in prominent cities of Maharasthra.

Delhi police public relations officer Rajan Bhagat said: “We have briefed our officers and men to be vigilant and watchful in the wake of Punjab incident and an alert is being maintained." Security was specially stepped up at railway stations in the national capital and public places, including crowded markets, are teeming with policemen.

Meanwhile, a rumour of firing close to Parliament House kept the cops on tenterhooks in the morning. However, it was later found out that the panic was caused by a loud noise from a motorbike at Vijay Chowk.

Read: Punjab terror attack: Blow-by-blow account

Maharasthra minister of state for home Ram Shinde said Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur were on high alert. “Intelligence agencies have told us that there should be high security for a few days in places like malls, railway stations and cinema halls as there could be a possible terror attack in one of these cities in the coming days," Shinde said.

As for Mumbai, city police commissioner Rakesh Maria said all concerned units and the special units of the city police have been asked to be alert.

State anti-terrorism squad chief Vivek Phansalkar said, "All our units in the state have been alerted and told to keep a tab on every suspicious person or group."

A police source said officers had gotten in touch undertrials in jails to get clues about a possible strike in Mumbai.

In Nagpur, police have already increased security ahead of the scheduled hanging of Yakub Memon, the convict of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, on July 30.

Neighbouring Rajasthan is also on high alert. "All range IGs and SPs, and ATS have been alerted and given necessary directions to strengthen security after the attack in Punjab," DGP, Manoj Bhatt said, adding, important public places are under strict vigil.

State Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria also held a meeting with senior police officers to discuss law and order.