Chief Minister says terrorism not a State problem; Rajnath says 'will give a befitting reply'

In a suspected terror attack on Monday gunmen fired indiscriminately in Punjab’s Dinanagar town in the frontier district of Gurdaspur, leaving six dead, including police officials. Dinanagar town is close to the Jammu and Kashmir border.

All militants were killed and another seriously injured in the gunbattle with security forces that stretched for over 10 hours as the terrorists, who went on a rampage at around 5 a.m., were holed up in a vacant building adjacent to Dinanagar police station.

The gunmen have killed seven persons — three civilians and four policemen including Superintendent of Police (Detective), Baljit Singh.

The Home Minister is expected to give his statement in Parliament tomorrow.

5:15 pm: Those dead in Dinanagar terror strike are four policemen, including an SP rank officer and three civilians, Punjab Police confirms.

5:11 pm: Victory chants by Punjab SWAT heard at the spot.

5:06 pm: Security forces have launched "final assault": top Punjab Police official.

5:08 pm: Three terrorists killed, Punjab Police confirms.

4:14 pm: Home Ministry officials to hold meeting with NSA Ajit Doval at 6 p.m. today at North Block, will review the situation.

4:10 pm: The terror attack is a result of intelligence failure, says Congress leader Anand Sharma. “The terror attack is not only a security lapse at the border but also a failure of intelligence agencies." > More..

3:50 pm: High alert issued in Uttar Pradesh. Heavy police deployed at sensitive sites.

3:07 pm: Taking stock of the situation every 15 minutes despite being unwell, says Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. “The attack is very sad. Militancy is a national problem, not State problem. Being a national problem, it needs to be tackled with national policies.” > More..

2:38 pm: One militant killed, another seriously injured, says Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur.

2:24 pm: Home Minister says he will give statement in Parliament tomorrow on the attack.

2:22 pm: We will not be the first to strike, but if we are hit, we will give a befitting reply: Rajnath Singh.

2:20 pm: I can’t understand why time and again cross border terror incidents are taking place when we want good relations with our neighbour: Rajnath Singh.

A bomb that was planted on railway track by armed militants near Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district on Monday. Photo: PTI

2:20 pm: Jammu and Kashmir SWAT team reaches the Gurdaspur terror attack site, reports ANI

01:40 pm Sources said that intelligence inputs on July 24 had warned that 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) terrorists headed by commander Maqbool Khan are trying to infiltrate from Dudhiniyal, Jammu to carry out attacks in India on August 15 or before with the help of Pakistan Rangers and that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is coordinating the efforts. > Read more..

01:18 pm Government will make a statement in the Parliament, once the encounter is over, says Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu to ANI

01:08 pm MoS Jithendra Singh says ISI is likely behind the Gurdaspur attack, reports Smriti Kak Ramachandran

12:56 pm “We are on alert. 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 told PTI over phone.

12:55 pm Punjab Police SP (Detective) Baljeet Singh killed in Gurdaspur terror attack, reports Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Youth Congress members protesting against the Central government, near Prime Minister's residence in New Delhi on Monday, following a suspected terror attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district. Photo: Sandeep Saxena

12:43 pm No clarity yet on the group involved in Punjab attack, suspected militants holed up in a vacant building: MHA

12:38 pm Militancy a national problem, not a state problem. National policy needed to tackle terrorism: Punjab CM Badal to ANI on Gurdaspur attack

12:32 pm: Preliminary information was that terrorists, 3-4 of them, came in army fatigues and opened fire, Abhinav Trikha, Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur, tells ANI

12:25 pm “Strongly condemn the terror attack in Gurudaspur. I hope the situation is brought under control at the earliest,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi says in a tweet.

12:23 pm Condemning the suspected terror attack, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal says all measures will be taken to maintain law and order and the safety of people in the state.

12:17 pm Home Minister Rajnath Singh to make a statement in Lok Sabha soon on Gurdaspur attack, reports Smriti Kak Ramachandran

12:05 pm Government sources say they are trying to catch the suspected terrorists alive, could provide valuable info, reports Vijaita Singh

11:50 am Rajnath Singh expresses confidence about the ongoing operation against the terrorists in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and said that the situation is under control.

11:30 am The government is capable enough to deal with the situation, says Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office following a militant attack in Gurdaspur district.

“This is a zone which has been vulnerable for quite some time. There have been reports of Pak infiltration earlier also,” Jitendra Singh told the media.

He said that ministry of home affairs has taken note of it and the “government of India is capable enough to deal with such situation”.

Pictures of civilians who left the area when SWAT teams reached the area where encounter began 1 hour ago.Delayed pix >pic.twitter.com/Nu7PWNWzBJ — ANI (@ANI_news) >July 27, 2015

11:02 am Government to make statement in Parliament on the Gurdaspur attack

10:52 am 4-5 people attacked police station in morning, we have engaged them in an encounter, says Ishwar Chander, IG Border Zone to ANI

10:49 am Press Information Bureau says so far reports of five deaths including three civilians and two police personnel confirmed from Gurudaspur. Operation is still on.

10:48 am Union Ministers Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley & Venkaiah Naidu present in the high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

10:45 am Jatin Anand tweets: Gurdaspur attack bears evident Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) signature, says Intel source

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Gurdaspur terror attack. >https://t.co/yrWOjloaAm — ANI (@ANI_news) >July 27, 2015

10:43 am Heavy exchange of fire has resumed between security forces and terrorists, says ANI

10:40 am MHA says idea was to neutralise suspected militants first, rather than finding out the group behind the attack, reports Vijaita Singh

10:35 am Delhi on alert in the wake of Gurdaspur attack. Police asked to step up deployment at markets, malls, metro stations, reports Jatin Anand.

10:30 am Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet top ministers regarding Gurdaspur firing shortly, reports Anita Joshua

10:25 am No one has been taken hostage, says Mr. Rijiju

10:20 am Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha: “The encounter is on. We will be able to tell more only after it ends.”

10:01 am Terrorists are holed up in an abandoned house, says Kiren Rijiju, MoS Home Affairs

10:00 am 'Militants are firing indiscriminately'

"We were hit by a burst of gunfire suddenly. I was hit on the shoulder. They are firing indiscriminately every five minutes,” a Punjab police official, who was injured in the attack, told media as he was being taken to the hospital.

09:58 am In this hour of crisis AAP is solidly with people of Punjab/with forces who are fighting terror.AAP condemns attack in strongest words, AAP leader Ashutosh tweets.

09:52 am Home Minister speaks to DG BSF, D.K. Pathak, and instructs him to step up the vigil on India-Pakistan border in the wake of attack in Gurudaspur.

09:44 am We heard firing, ran to spot,saw an injured man, the gunmen took his car and ran away: Eye-witness tells ANI

09:40 am Punjab Special Security Group (SSG) reaches the spot, takes charge of operations: ANI

09:33 am More details emerge on live bombs found on Railway tracks.

The bombs were carefully wired to the railway track at a small bridge near Parmanand railway station, five km from Dinanagar.

A train, which was to pass on the railway track, was stopped just 200 metres from the spot where the bombs were planted.

Railway traffic on the Amritsar-Pathankot section was stopped following the incident.

09:30 am High-level meet scheduled to take place at MHA at 10am. NSA Ajit Doval, Home Secretary L.C. Goyal to be present, reports ANI

09:20 am Home Minister >Rajnath Singh orders BSF to immediately move forces to Gurudaspur to assist police following attack by suspected terrorists.

09:15 am Two police home guards died during the firing, says ANI.

09:10 am Army commandos and a Quick Response Team (QRT) have also been called in.

09:00 am Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal has spoken to Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, and is monitoring the situation.

3 killed & 4 injured in suspected terror attack in Gurdaspur (Visuals of the car which was reportedly used by gunmen) >pic.twitter.com/Z9rt54POxq — ANI (@ANI_news) >July 27, 2015

08:45 am Rajnath Singh speaks to Home Secretary and NSA regarding the situation in Gurudaspur. Security forces have been rushed to the spot.

08:42 am The timing of the attack, methodology & location are all eerily similar to attacks in the border belt of Jammu, says former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

08:38 am Home Minister Rajnath Singh speaks with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

The MHA is monitoring the situation in Gurudaspur and Punjab. I am confident that the situation will be soon brought in control. — Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) >July 27, 2015

08:34 am One person reportedly dead and seven injured in the gunfight.

08:33 am Firing underway between police and gunmen

08:32 am Army unit reaches the attack site, Punjab SWAT rushes to spot, NSG team also moved, reports ANI

08:30 am Sources say the gunmen hijacked a car before attacking the police barracks.

08:25 am Senior police officer Dinkar Gupta says the attack occurred early Monday and the attackers are believed to have come from PoK.

08:20 am Five live bombs were recovered from railway track near Gurdaspur.

08:10 am Police reinforcements were rushed to the spot and a counter-offensive by security forces was initiated.

08:00 am The terrorists fired at people near the Dinanagar bus stand and then attacked the Dinanagar police station.

07:55 am Eyewitnesses said that the terrorists, numbering 4-5, were in army uniforms and were carrying automatic weapons.

07:35 am Militants have fired at a bus station and entered police barracks.

07:30 am Gunmen in uniform reportedly fired indiscriminately in Punjab’s Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district.