Terrorists on a rampage in Gurdaspur, shoot down 5

Gunmen wearing army uniform went on a rampage attacking a bus, a health centre and a police station in Gurdaspur in Punjab, leaving five persons, including a policeman, dead and several injured, early in the morning today.

Police said the attackers first targeted a roadside eatery at about 5 am after which they took off in a car after killing a person near Dinanagar bypass.

They opened fire on a moving bus, in which four passengers were injured and also targeted a community health centre adjacent to 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.

Among the injured was Dinanagar SHO Mukhtiar Singh, SSP Gurdaspur Gurpreet Singh said.

The assailants also threw grenades at a nearby building housing the families of police personnel before the Army personnel from Pathankot were called to launch operations against the militants.

The gunmen, numbering about five, are now holed up in Dinanagar police station complex and the Army has cordoned off the whole area.

Quick reaction teams, bomb squads, besides police personnel, 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 service and a gunbattle was on when reports last came in. The two sides were locked in a heavy exchange of fire, several hours after the incident.

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

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal summoned an emergency meeting in view of the incident. Union home minister Rajnath Singh also spoke to Badal and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval about the situation.

Home ministry has asked BSF to enhance vigil along the entire international border with Pakistan.

"I have spoken to the Punjab chief minister, who apprised me of the developing situation in Gurdaspur. Security forces have rushed to the spot," Singh, who is on his way to Madhya Pradesh, said.

The home minister said the central government is monitoring the situation and he was confident that the situation would be brought under control.