Heavily-armed Pakistan-based terrorists in Army fatigues attempted to storm the Air Force base in Pathankot on Saturday around 3.30 am, triggering a day-long gunbattle in which three IAF personnel were martyred and four infiltrators were killed, a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise stopover in lahore to greet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. With the obvious intention of destroying fighter jets and helicopters housed there, the group of terrorists made an abortive attempt to attack the base, which is barely 35 km from the International Border with Pakistan.
Six security personnel were injured in the attack. The intruders entered the Air Force premises, near the Chakki river, in a vehicle snatched a day before. Based on intercepts, security agencies believe that one Nazeer from Bahawalpur in Pakistan was leading the group. Defence sources said the terrorists sneaked into the nearly 2000-acre airbase through a forested area where they were confronted by the Quick Reaction Team of IAF’s Garud commandos. They managed to go up to 400 metres but were still 700 metres away from the area where fighter jets were stationed.
The MIG-21 Bison fighter jets, helicopters, missiles and other assets of the IAF at the base were secure and the terrorists were intercepted and engaged on the outer periphery itself, officials said.
Pathankot Senior Superintendent of Police RK Bakshi said four terrorists, allegedly belonging to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant outfit, were killed in the battle, and three IAF personnel, including a Garuda commando, were martyred, while six others sustained injuries. The Swift commandos of the Punjab Police were on the outer periphery of the cordon to ensure that the terrorists do not escape the dragnet.
Despite several hours, the entire area had not been declared sanitised as gunshots were heard during the combing operation. The firing indicated that some more terrorists could still be present in the area but sources indicated there was no confirmation about their exact number.
The security forces were from the very beginning tightlipped on the operational details to prevent any leakage of the type during the Mumbai attacks.
Being a sensitive area, the IAF had pressed into service two attack helicopters which hovered over the areas from where the firing was coming from. The security forces also deployed drones to get the exact location of the terrorists.
National Security Guards (NSG) commandos, who had been rushed to Pathankot on Friday evening following apprehension of an attack, IAF’s Garuda commandos and Army commandos led the counter-attack on Saturday against the terrorists who are suspected to have crossed into India from Pakistan through the border area.
The Pathankot-Jammu highway was put on high alert to prevent the terrorists from escaping and was sealed. Security forces were put on high alert in Pathankot in Punjab’s frontier district Gurdaspur on Friday after a SP-rank police official said he and his associates were kidnapped by five armed men in Army fatigues but released later.
Terrorists from Pakistan had launched a terror attack on Dinanagar town in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district on July 27, 2015, leaving seven people dead. Three terrorists had sprayed bullets on a bus and stormed a police station in Dinanagar, killing seven persons, including an SP.
The former Gurdaspur SP (Headquarters), Salwinder Singh, was the person who first raised an alarm on the presence of terrorists speaking a different language than what is spoken in these parts of Punjab. He was transferred two days ago as Assistant Commandant, 75th Battalion, PAP complex, Jalandhar, though he is yet to join the new posting.
He told senior officials investigating the matter that he, Gurdaspur-based jeweller Rajesh Verma and his cook Mohan lal were on their way to a religious place in his beacon-fitted SUV when they were kidnapped in Kolian village, under Narot Jaimal Singh police station. The “kidnapped” police official said that the kidnappers threw him off the vehicle and slit Verma’s throat. Verma is recuperating at a hospital in Pathankot. The other two were also pushed out and the vehicle was abandoned near Tajpur village, he said.
As soon as Salwinder Singh’s eyewitness account reached the Punjab Police headquarters, all arrangements were made. Additional DGP (law and Order) HS Dhillon, IG (Border) lok Nath Angra, DIG Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh and Gurdaspur and Pathankot SSPs Gurpreet Singh Toor and RK Bakshi rushed to Pathankot.
The Pathankot SSP said on receiving a call at 2.30 am on Saturday that an SP rank official had been kidnapped, DSP Kuldeep Singh and the Narot SHO started a search operation. He said that at 3.15 am (Friday), the control room received another call that the SP and his car had been spotted near Tajpur village following which the officer was taken to Pathankot. Senior Punjab Police officials said the account of the SP was being verified.