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No Sikh ultras behind Punjab terror attack

Last Updated 28 July 2015, 20:25 IST

Preliminary leads emerging from the investigation into Monday's terror strike in the Dinanagar township of Gurdaspur district in Punjab “do not indicate any direct involvement of home-grown Sikh militants”.

In fact, the leads, including crucial location details of the terrorists — gathered from two GPS devices found on the bodies — increasingly indicate that they had entered from Pakistan. However, official word from security agencies on the identity of the three terrorists killed in the over-11-hour operation is still awaited.

The Punjab Police on Tuesday also laid hands on CCTV camera footage showing the three militants walking towards their target minutes before starting to shoot at innocent people. The footage, captured from outside the house of a local doctor and a little over a minute in length, is being examined by the police and a team of forensic experts that reached the Dinanagar police station on Tuesday morning.

The terrorists are seen fearlessly walking on the street at 4:55 am on Monday. The footage showed they had backpacks and were heavily armed. In fact, they carried more arms and ammunition than used in the combat inside the police station.

Three civilians and four security personnel, including a superintendent of police, were killed in the attack.

A day after the operation, the police station was sanitised, and more munitions, including AK-47 guns, grenades, a rocket-launcher and several magazines, were recovered.

The live ammunition was defused. The grenades were made in China, said Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini.

Preliminary reports suggest the militants had entered the country through the Bamiyal village in Pathankot, close to the international border with Pakistan. Their location points towards the Narot-Jaimal sector along the Pakistan border.

The militants crossed a tributary of the Ravi river to reach India. Their GPS devices were switched off for some days after July 21-22, which could mean the terrorists were on Indian soil for a few days before they struck Dina Nagar. It is unclear if more terrorists had entered from Pakistan.

Sources said the strike was “typical fidayeen in nature”. The militants had shaved chests, said some reports. The police commandos engaged in the gun-battle also reportedly heard pro-Pakistan slogans. The modus operandi also indicates a strategy Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists often deploy in attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

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(Published 28 July 2015, 20:25 IST)

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