Gurdaspur attack: Sonia Gandhi, Amit Shah condemn Punjab terror strike

NEW DELHI: Leaders of various political parties including BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress President Sonia Gandhi today condemned the pre-dawn terror attack in Punjab's Gurdaspur district in which seven persons, including a superintendent of police, were killed.

BJP President Amit Shah condemned the attack and lauded the role of security forces in thwarting it. Any such attempt will be dealt with sternly, he said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi also condemned the terror attack in Punjab and expressed grave concern over the rising trend of separatist terror strikes.

She said Congress resolutely stands against such forces and extended her condolence to the families of martyred security personnel and others who had lost their lives in the attack.

"Attack on innocent people in Dinanagar is a highly condemnable and cowardice act of enemies of peace, which shall be handled with iron hand," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Strongly condemning the terror attack in Gurdaspur, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi said, "My prayers are with the families of those of who lost their lives in the attack."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the attack and said, "We strongly condemn cowardly attack on innocent people in Punjab. We are with the people of Punjab."

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, "Today People, Government and Police of Punjab have defeated terrorism, heroic acts of bus driver, civilians and policemen have made us proud."

"I pay my homage to policemen who have laid their lives in service of our nation while gallantly fighting terrorists in Punjab," he said.

In a major terror attack, three fidayeen, believed to have come from Pakistan, today attacked passengers in a moving bus and stormed a police station, killing seven persons, including an SP. All the terrorists were gunned down after a day-long operation.

In the pre-dawn attack, the terrorists, suspected to be members of either Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) or Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), in army fatigues first targeted a roadside eatery, then sprayed bullets on a passenger bus and later barged into the Dinanagar police station.