It was a regular Monday morning for Shubh lata Sharma, a resident of Dinanagar, who was rushing to get ready to do household chores… At around 5:30 am, she heard loud bangs and gunfire just across the street.
In her neighborhood, Saroj Gupta and her family awoke to the sound of gunfire and police sirens. And, by late morning a grim reality had set in as it emerged that Dinanagar is hit by a terrorist attack.
On the morning of July 27, many residents of Dinanagar, third largest town of Punjab’s Gurdaspur district woke up in a state of disbelief when terrorists, dressed in army uniforms, holed up in a police station near Kothe Bhimsen area of the town.
Shubh lata Sharma, 43, whose house is located behind the police station said, “All of a sudden I heard this loud bang and I thought it was fireworks. By around 6:30 when the firing continued for a long time, we realised that it is a terror attack,” Sharma told The Pioneer over phone.
This is for the first time that this area has witnessed such an attack and there is panic in the area. Since we can not go outside, we are keeping contact with the neighbors through telephone calls to make sure that they are safe, she added.
As the news of terror attack spread, people living near Dinanagar police station were gripped by panic and remained indoors throughout the day.
“The sound of firing going on at police station between the security personnel and militants continued for several hours and it was really terrifying till the late afternoon,” said Abhishek Mahajan, 25, who also lives in Kothe Bhimsen area near Dinanagar Police Station.
Abhishek, a teacher by profession said, “It was like being in a war zone as our place is near to the Police station. We were instructed to stay indoors through Police announcements during early morning.”
loud explosions and sounds of heavy gunfire could be heard over the phone as his brother Abhinandan Mahajan, 22 shared with The Pioneer that phone calls continued to pour in throughout the day when the news of terror attack spread across the region.
After hearing sound of bullet firing in the early morning , I went upstairs to check and saw a heavy police force deployed in the area. Soon, an announcement was made and we were asked to stay indoors. Then, we saw breaking news flashing on a TV channel about the terror attack, he added.
Dinanagar, about 25 km from Pathankot town, is the third largest town in Gurdaspur district. According to the 2011 census, the town, located close to the Pakistan border and sandwiched between the rivers Ravi and Beas, has a population of over 21,000.
Rakesh Gupta, Dinanager Municipal Council president, who was present near the site of military operations that continued till late evening said, “The whole area was cordoned off in the morning. All schools, colleges, offices were shut down in the wake of a terror attack in the town.”
“My son had gone to his tuition early morning but he returned by 6:30 as the news about terrorist attack spread in the town. As people were directed to stay indoors, most of them came to know about the terror attack through news channels or through their relatives or friends who called them up to inform about the incident, said he.
The 11-hour ordeal which began at nearly 5.30 am ended when the police took back the entire police complex, which included the police station and residential quarters and killed the terrorists.
By late evening, the terror nightmare in Dinanagar came to an end and the residents heaved a sign of relief.