News - Terror attack in Gurdaspur - 15 casualties

Terrorists also include a female 

Though the exact number of attackers is still not known but one of the injured cops have said that the terrorists also include a female. The injured cop has been admitted in a nearby hospital. He said that they did not get a chance to understand the motive of the assailants who were dressed in military attire.

Causalities: 15

15 people have been killed out of which eight are police officials, including SP Gurdaspur Baljit Singh, two detainees who were in the lockup and three civilians including a female. One terrorist has also been killed in the action.

Bombs fail to explode/ Major tragedy averted /This is the first terror attack in Punjab after 1995.

The five live bombs that were found on the Pathankot and Dinanagar railway track are now being connected to the ongoing siege at the police station in Gurdaspur since the railway track is reportedly very close to the police station.

The recovery of bombs also suggest a coordinated series of attacks, around the time India is marking the anniversary of a near-war with Pakistan in northern Kashmir in 1999.

Also read: We are capable of dealing with such situations, says Jitendra Singh 

Deputy Superintendent of Police Pathankot, Prabhjot Singh Virk said that the improvised explosive devices didn't go off, despite a passenger train from Pathankot to Amritsar passing over them at 5.15am as the wires were not properly connected. The IEDs were not immediately defused as the army's bomb disposal unit from Jalandhar was awaited.

IB Alert Ignored

Sources said Punjab police had received an alert a day earlier, in which the police was alerted that some infiltrators are trying to sneak into India. The alert had also said that the terrorists can target police stations, schools and government buildings.

The terrorists are believed to have come from Narowal, Pakistan. Sources said that the terrorists wanted to enter Jammu and Kashmir but changed their course due to heavy deployment of forces due to the ongoing Amarnath Yatra and PM Modi's visit.

Operation

The operation is still on from last seven hours.

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 and a gunbattle is still on .

A high alert has been sounded along the national highway between Jammu and Kathua, with checking stepped up at Lakhanpur, which acts as an entry point to Jammu Kashmir from neighbouring Punjab.

Meanwhile, the entire railway track between Jammu and Pathankot was checked with the help of dog squads and railway police personnel on Monday morning to rule out the possibility of sabotage by terrorists .

The Punjab Police has sounded an alert in all police stations along the Indo-Pak border in the state following the attack.