Police inspect CCTV footage of attack

The Gurdaspur police claimed to have got the CCTV footage installed at a nationalised bank in front of the Dinanagar police station that was attacked by three militants two days ago. Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Toor confirmed the development. Toor supervised the operation before the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team arrived at the scene. Toor said, “The CCTV footage taken from a camera installed outside a bank building shows the hijacked white Maruti 800 car being driven towards the police station around 5.13 am. The footage also shows people running for cover after the terrorists began firing. We have got a substantial number of clues from the footage.”“At this point of time, I cannot give you any more information on the matter as it may hamper the investigation process,” he said. He also appealed to the people to provide any information they have on the attack to the police. TNS

MHA uploads banned terror outfits’ info

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has uploaded on its website the banned terrorist organisations in the country under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The banned organisations included Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Commando Force and Khalistan Zindabad Force, International Sikh Youth Federation among others. TNS

Peaceniks forced to rethink I-Day event

The Dinanagar terror attack has forced peaceniks to rethink their plan to organise candlelight vigil at Attari-Wagah Border on the eve of the Independence Day which has been an annual feature in the past. The Hind-Pak Dosti Manch and its associate organisations have now decided to hold a meeting to deliberate on the issue in light of the terror attack and take a final call in this regard. Dosti Manch general secretary Satnam Singh Manak strongly condemned the killing of policemen and civilians in the terror attack at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur on Monday. “Whenever the two countries take an initiative to improve the bilateral ties, terrorist forces resort to such action in a bid to sabotage the peace process,” he said. “The Prime Ministers of the two countries had recently met in Russia and decided to resume the dialogue process. Indian PM Narendra Modi had even accepted his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif’s invite to visit Pakistan next year.

Bajwa flays CM, Saini for ‘contradictory remarks’

PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa on Wednesday flayed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and DGP Sumesh Saini for giving contradictory statements on the Dinanagar attack. “On the one hand, the CM said the Punjab Police had intelligence inputs of the impending terrorist attack, on the other, Saini claimed the police didn’t receive any inputs on the matter,” Bajwa said. He said the state government should clarify the issue. Bajwa demanded that the families of the martyrs be give a compensation of Rs 50 lakh. “When the victims of the Moga and Ropar bus incidents were compensated with Rs 32 lakh and 20 lakh respectively, why were the families of the attack victims given only Rs 10 lakh?” he questioned. He also demanded an overhaul of the police infrastructure in the state. “Police personnel on VIP duties should be immediately withdrawn so there is manpower available to carry out surveillance 24*7,” he said.  He also criticised Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal for holidaying in Poland, when a terrorist attack took place in the state. “Sukhbir should have immediately cancelled his tour and visited the bereaved families,” Bajwa alleged.