Gurdaspur, Pathankot on high alert as 2 suspected terrorists sighted near border

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur/Pathankot, June 26

The police districts of Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Batala were put on a high alert even as the police and the BSF launched a massive joint search operation following speculation that two suspected terrorists were roaming near the International Border.

Alerted by villager

• A resident of Kot Bhathian hamlet, located near the International Border, told the police that two men, carrying arms & ammunition in bags, entered his house during night
• He said he was compelled to prepare dinner for them after one of them pointed a pistol at him
• Before leaving, the two men threatened him with dire consequences, if he called up the police

Around Tuesday midnight, the Pathankot control room received a call from a villager of Kot Bhathian hamlet, located near the International Border (IB), claiming that two men, carrying bags filled with arms and ammunition, entered his house. He added that he was forced to prepare dinner after one of the men pointed a pistol at him. Before leaving, the two men threatened him with dire consequences if he called up the police. Kot Bhathian is near Bamiyal.

The identity of the villager is being kept secret.

Sources say the police grilled the villager to see if he was lying or not. Later, officers claimed he was not “faking things” and that two men had actually come to his house and had dinner.

Pathankot SSP Suhail Qasim Mir was informed in this regard. Minutes later, the police districts of Batala, Gurdaspur and Pathankot were informed and consequently put on the alert. The BSF and the Army were also asked to be on standby.

Senior officials held midnight deliberations at the Pathankot and Gurdaspur Police Lines after which all SHOs of the two districts were asked to reach their respective police stations.

When residents woke up in the morning, they were greeted by rumours as regards the incident. With no officer from either the Police Department or the civil administration willing to clear the situation, rumours kept gaining ground throughout the day, leading to confusion and uncertainty.

Around 1,000 personnel drawn from the BSF and the Punjab Police were engaged in the search operation. There were apprehensions that the two militants might have entered the neighbouring J&K. “Right now, we are not sure whether the suspects entered Punjab from the Bamiyal IB or from J&K. We are still ascertaining things,” said SSP Qasim Mir.

Police sources said there was a high probability that the duo might have crossed over to Kathua district in J&K.

Railway stations and bus stands of Gurdaspur, Dinanagar, Pathankot, Batala and Dhariwal were teeming with security men since morning. The national highway leading from Batala to Pathankot, via Gurdaspur, was secured and check posts were set up during the night itself.

BSF Commandant DIG Shashank Anand was also involved in the search operation.

A security blanket was thrown around vital installations like the Air Force station and the Mamun cantonment in Pathankot.

Officers said the search operation was likely to continue throughout the night.

The situation at the Kartarpur corridor, which falls in the jurisdiction of the Dera Baba Nanak police station of the Batala police district, was being carefully monitored. Batala SSP Ashwini Gotyal claimed that a strict vigil was being maintained in and around the corridor.

The consensus among senior officers was that they were not in a position to take risk as they were reminded of the 2015 attack in Dinanagar in which three Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba militants had laid siege to the police station for nearly 10 hours. Seven persons, including SP-rank officer Baljit Singh, were killed before the police neutralised the militants.