As India argues over Yakub Memon’s death penalty, terror raises its ugly head in Gurdaspur, Punjab

Even as the entire nation continues to argue over Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon’s death penalty, terror strikes again – this time in the northern state of Punjab.

Suspected gunmen on Monday (July 27) attacked a state-owned bus in the Gurdaspur district and later, entered a nearby police station and opened fire, leaving at least three civilians, five police personnel dead.

6 civilians, 2 police home guards killed & 4 injured in Gurdaspur suspected terror attack; no reports of hostage.

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2015

According to television reports,  the terrorists were reportedly dressed in Army uniform and were traveling in a Maruti Alto car when they attacked the bus stand in Gurdaspur’s Dinanagar town, which is close to the Jammu border at around 5.30 am.

Spot visuals of suspected terror attack in Dina Nagar, Gurdaspur (Punjab) pic.twitter.com/Zyn0b7v6JX

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2015

According to news reports, four armed terrorists stormed into the Gurdaspur police station where an encounter raged on for hours. Three militants, suspected to be a part of LeT or Jaish-e-Mohammed, were killed in the operation carried out by the Punjab SWAT team.

We are on the job, there is no hostage situation, it is a Punjab police commando op: Ishwar Chander IG Border zone pic.twitter.com/TdLnzWkqub

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2015

Meanwhile, the Army has been flown in to take stock of the situation. Home Minister Rajnath Singh too is monitoring the situation in Punjab closely.

So far, there is no confirmation about the identity of the attackers.

The MHA is monitoring the situation in Gurudaspur and Punjab. I am confident that the situation will be soon brought in control.

— Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) July 27, 2015

Spoke to DG BSF Shri DK Pathak and instructed him to step up the vigil on India-Pakistan border in the wake of attack in Gurudaspur

— Rajnath Singh (@BJPRajnathSingh) July 27, 2015

Following the incident, Manoj Bhatt, DGP Rajasthan said, “Intelligence branches have issued alerts to all districts. There’s also increased vigilance on inter-state border.”

The Punjab attack set Twitter abuzz with reactions coming in from different corners of the country. Here’s what some of the prominent names had to say:

The timing of the attack, methodology & location are all eerily similar to attacks in the border belt of Jammu 2/2

— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) July 27, 2015

Iska arth ye hua ki, ISI ne ye nirnaya kia hai ki sikh terrorism ko fir se zinda kia jaaye: Former Home Secy RK Singh on Gurdaspur incident

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2015

Strongly condemn the terror attack in #Gurdaspur, Strict action must be taken alongside a stepped up vigil at indo-pak border

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) July 27, 2015

Strongly condemn the cowardly terrorist attack in #Gurdaspur . My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Gurdaspur & our jawans.

— Naveen Jindal (@MPNaveenJindal) July 27, 2015

We strongly condemn cowardly attack on innocent ppl in Punjab. We are with the people of Punjab and hope that culprits wud soon be nabbed

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 27, 2015

Strongly condemn the terror attack in Gurdaspur.I hope the situation is brought under control at the earliest(1/2)

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) July 27, 2015

Strongly condemn the Gurdaspur terror attack. An act of cowardice to kill innocents. Condolences to the victim's families.

— H S Phoolka (@hsphoolka) July 27, 2015

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