New Delhi/Chandigarh: Rajnath Singh late on Monday evening held a meeting with defence minister Manohar Parrikar, the NSA, BSF director-general D.K. Pathak and the heads of the intelligence agencies, and directed the BSF to look into how the “border was breached” despite intense vigil and fencing.
The government is hoping to zero in on the exact location from where the terrorists embarked on their terror journey by Tuesday with the help of the coordinates they have recovered from the GPS device.
NSA Ajit Doval directed the Army and National Security Guard to remain on standby, allowing the Punjab police’s Special Security Group to take the lead in operations. This came as a clear departure from earlier practice where the UPA government first rushed Central forces during a terror strike. This was the reason why the NSG’s dispatch was delayed for several hours on Monday, top government sources said.
Photo: People gather near a nursery to watch the encounter between security forces and militants who attacked a police station at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur district on Monday)
Intelligence reports suggested a major lapse on the part of the government led to Monday’s encounter. Specific inputs were available with both the Central and state government agencies of two to four suspected fidayeen terrorists trying to enter through the Shakargarh-Sialkot border area in Jammu.
In the last one month, at least three to four alerts were shared with both the BJP-led Central government and the Akali-BJP government in Punjab of specific infiltration bids along the International Border.
Top Intelligence officials said Pakistan’s fingerprints were all over the attack as the three fidayeen are believed to have crossed over the International Border under a well-planned terror operation given the fact that the vigil along the border in J&K was too high for them to infiltrate. The Gurdaspur terror attack is being seen as part of this new modus operandi adopted by the ISI.
Monday’s attack sent chilling reminders of the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks where Pakistan’s ISI-backed ten LeT terrorists had carried out a hostage crisis for three days. According to the police, the attackers first targeted a roadside eatery and took off in a white Maruti 800 with a Punjab registration number. They shot dead a roadside vendor near Dinanagar bypass. They then opened fire on passengers in a moving Punjab Roadways bus before targeting a community health centre adjacent to Dinanagar police station. Bus drive Nanak Chand who did not stop the bus, saving lives of 75 passengers, will be honoured by the state government. The gunmen then barged into the Dinanagar police station and opened indiscriminate fire, hurled grenades.
