By Mubasshir Mushtaq
MUMBAI, India
At least six people were killed in a border town in India's Punjab state when four unidentified assailants opened fire.
Local media reported Monday's attack in Dinanagar town, near the Pakistan border, saw four armed suspects wearing army uniforms fire at a public bus before storming a local police station.
Police have launched a counter-terror operation since the attack, which killed three police officers including a senior superintendent of police, Baljit Singh.
Local channel NDTV, quoting unnamed sources, reported that two suspected attackers were killed while the other two were at large.
Five live bombs were reportedly recovered from railway tracks near Dinanagar.
Federal home minister Rajnath Singh said that his ministry is closely monitoring the counter-terror operation and the situation would be brought under control soon.
“Spoke to DG [Director General] BSF [Border Security Force] Shri DK Pathak and instructed him to step up the vigil on the India-Pakistan border in the wake of attack in Gurudaspur,” Singh tweeted.
There was no confirmation of where the attackers came from but Singh suggested the involvement of India's western neighbor.
“We want peace with Pakistan, but not at the cost of national honor,” Singh told reporters. “We will not be the first to strike, but if we are hit, we will give a befitting reply.”
Singh also said he would make a formal statement on the attack in Indian Parliament on Tuesday.
Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal, who runs the state government coalition with ruling national party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), blamed the federal government, saying terrorism and militancy are “national” problems.
“The terrorists didn’t come from Punjab, they came from the border. It’s the Centre’s job to seal the border,” Badal said.
Opposition Congress party called the attack a failure of the country’s intelligence agencies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attended a high-level security meeting to review the security requirements along the Pakistan border.
