India raises security level after militant assault
Indian security forces have been put on high alert in the wake of a deadly militant attack on a police station in northern state of Punjab, close to border with Pakistan.
India Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday evening that he had ordered increased security on the border with Pakistan. A number of Indian states were also reported to be on high alert.
Singh is expected to make a detailed statement on the attack in parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday.
This came after Indian forces fought a prolonged gunfight with militants who attacked a moving bus and stormed into a police station in the pre-dawn attack in the town of Dinanagar in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district .
Indian security sources say at least four policemen and three attackers were killed in the deadly assault. One civilian was killed when the attackers opened fire at a bus station while the other two died at the police station.
Indian police overpowered heavily armed militants dressed in military fatigues after nearly a 12-hour gun battle.
India's national security adviser, Ajit Doval has called it "a very serious terrorist attack"
Meanwhile, Indian security forces recovered five live bombs from nearby railway tracks, forcing train services to be cancelled.
Jitendra Singh, a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, accused Pakistan-based militants for the deadly assault on the Indian soil.
"There have also been earlier reports of Pakistan infiltration and cross-border mischief in this area," Singh said.
However, the Pakistani government in a statement strongly condemned the deadly militant attack.
"Pakistan reiterates its condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," the statement said, adding, "We extend heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the government and people of India."
Indian and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from the British colonial rule in 1947.
In 2004, New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to launch talks for brokering a regional peace.
The process was, however, suspended after over 160 people lost their lives in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
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