Gurdaspur attack: PM Modi holds high-level meet with ministers

NEW DELHI: With the Army launching operations against suspected militants in Punjab's Gurdaspur on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meet in the Parliament with Union Ministers Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu.

Just before the meeting, Defence Minister Manohar parrikar said, "Special forces have moved there (Gurdaspur). Counter insurgency and counter terror special forces are there."

Home Minister Rajnath Singh expressed confidence that the operation will be successful. "I am in touch with Punjab CM, NSA, DG BSF. The forces on the border are on alert. Operation is still on, I will not make any comments. We will be successful in operation," he said.

In a suspected terror attack, gunmen wearing army uniform went on a rampage attacking a bus, a health centre and a police station, leaving five persons, including a policeman, dead and several injured in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.

Army has launched an operation against the militants numbering about five who are holed up in Dinanagar police station complex. The assailants also targeted a building where the families of police personnel reside and threw grenades.

Army was called in from Pathankot and the whole area has been cordoned off.

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 was on when reports last came in. Though there were reports of a hostage situation, officials were tightlipped.

According to police, the mayhem started at about 5 AM when the attackers first targeted a roadside eatery and took off in a car after killing a person who was sleeping near Dinanagar bypass.

They opened fire on a moving bus, in which four passengers were injured, they said.

They also targeted a community health centre adjacent Dinanagar police station, in which a policeman and three civilians including a woman who were present in the premises were killed.

The gunmen entered the Dinanagar police station and opened fire on policemen there in which five policemen were seriously injured. They then targeted other part of the building where the families of police personnel reside.

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