NEW DELHI (SW): Three terrorists were shot dead 11 hours after they stormed a police station in Indian Punjab's Gurdaspur district and fought an intense gun battle with security forces on Monday.
Six people, including a senior police officer, two home guards personnel and three civilians, were killed in the attack, Indian media reported. Police officials said that exact details of the number of terrorists killed would emerge only after the combing operation by the Punjab Police and other security agencies ended.
According to the Hindustan Times, India tightened security on its border with Pakistan after the attack.
Armed police exchanged fire with the gunmen, who were holed up in the police station after the assault began at about 5.30am. Gunshots were heard as security forces surrounded the building in the town of Dinanagar, about 15 km from the international border. Punjab Police personnel said they heard the terrorists shout ‘Allah hu Akbar’ — Arabic for ‘God is great’.
Senior police officers, including Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini, went inside the besieged police station complex once the state's police's Special Forces gave the signal that the terrorists had been neutralised.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he had spoken to the head of the Border Security Force and "instructed him to step up the vigil on India-Pakistan border".
Five bombs were also found on a railway track in the state, suggesting a coordinated series of attacks around the time India is marking the anniversary of a near-war with Pakistan in northern Kashmir in 1999.
According to the HT, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Union ministers Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu to discuss the situation.
The attack in Punjab was eerily similar to attacks in the border belt of Jammu, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted. "Will be very interested to see what emerges about the identity of the terrorists involved in the Gurdaspur attack this morning," Abdullah tweeted.
India observed the Kargil Diwas on Sunday to salute its soldiers who fought against Pakistani troops and guerrillas who sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir in 1999.
The incident comes weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif spoke for about an hour during a summit in Russia, raising hopes of an improvement in perennially difficult relations.
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