Rumours of terrorists’ presence keep Kangra police on their toes

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, November 24

The Kangra police have been on their toes following rumours regarding the presence of terrorists in the area. Senior police officials were seen issuing different statements over the issue.

Kangra SP Santosh Patial, at a press conference on Saturday, said a youth studying in Dharamsala, who was on the Pathankot-Dharamsala bus got suspicious after seeing five to seven Kashmiris travelling with him on Friday.

As he alighted from then bus at Gaggal, he received an alert from the Delhi Police on WhatsApp that some suspicious elements had sneaked in. After seeing the pictures on his WhatsApp, he informed the police, saying one of the men resembled the person in the picture.

The SP said they were trying to verify the information provided by Gaggal resident and that there was no need to panic. As the news regarding the suspicious elements spread, a few portals uploaded reports that a group of terrorists was spotted in the district.

Kangra DIG Arul Fulzele issued a clarification, saying certain web portals had carried reports of some masked persons projecting them as terrorists. “This has created panic among the people. The Himachal Police does not have any input from the intelligence, state or Centre regarding the terrorists sneaking in the state. It seems that some rumour-mongers are trying to create panic. The police are contemplating legal action against the web portals spreading rumours,” the DIG said.

When asked about the people spotted by the Gaggal resident, he said the information was confirmed. However, it was found that the people travelling by the bus were Kashmiri labourers.

Action mulled against web news channels

Chamba: The HP Police have observed that various social media and web news channels are spreading messages that five to seven suspected terrorists were seen on a Pathankot-Dharamsala bus on November 23. Since the HP Police have not received any intelligence input from the Central, state security and intelligence agencies in the matter, the department is contemplating legal action against those spreading “unfounded, baseless and unconfirmed” news on the social media and web news channels. OC