Following is the
full text of the statement made by the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh
in the Lok Sabha today on the terror attack in Gurdaspur district of Punjab on
27th July, 2015:
“On 27th
July, 2015 at around 0530 hrs, 3 heavily armed terrorists dressed in army uniforms
snatched Maruti Car No. PB 09B 7743 from the outskirts of Dinanagar, District
Gurdaspur, Punjab after opening fire at the occupant of the car, Shri Kamaljit
Singh, S/o Gian Singh, R/o Dinanagar. Subsequently, these terrorists opened
fire indiscriminately in the area around the Bus Stand, Dinanagar and also
fired at the Punjab Roadways Bus No. PB 06G 9569 coming from Bamial.
Subsequently, the terrorists
entered Police Station Dinanagar and opened fire on the sentry standing on
guard duty. During the firing at the Police Station, Home Guard Rajinder Kumar
and Home Guard Ashok Kumar were injured. SI, Mukhtiar Singh, the SHO of Police
Station who was inside rushed out and was also fired upon and got injured. The
terrorists tried to enter the Police Station building while firing in an
indiscriminate manner. HC Ram Lal, the night munshi of the Police Station
grabbed the weapon of the sentry and bravely battled the terrorists. He ran
inside the Police Station building and bolted the door from inside preventing
the terrorists from entering the Police Station building. Due to the
indiscriminate firing at this spot 03 patients undergoing treatment at Kiran
Hospital, adjoining the Police Station building, received bullet injuries, two
of whom succumbed to their injuries.
The terrorists
thereafter went to the premises behind the Police Station and entered the building
being used as the office of the local detachment of the Punjab Home Guards, while
firing indiscriminately. Three home guard officials present in this structure
sustained bullet injuries and succumbed to their injuries.
Police reinforcements
were immediately rushed to the Police Station, Dinanagar. Senior Police
Officers, including the Director General of Police, Punjab reached the Police
Station to supervise operations against the terrorists.
The Punjab Police
engaged the terrorists effectively and made all efforts to apprehend them and
prevent their escape and also prevent collateral damage. In the end, all the three
terrorists were neutralized in this successful operation. However, Shri Baljeet
Singh, Superintendent of Police (Detective), Gurdaspur, who was leading from
the front, was martyred. The Punjab Police have recovered a number of incriminating
material including three AK 47 rifles, 19 magazinesand
two GPS from the dead terrorists, which are being analyzed for further
necessary action. I place on record my sincere appreciation for the successful
operation conducted by the Punjab Police.
The preliminary analyses
of GPS data indicates that the terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan through
the area near Tash in Gurdaspur district, where the Ravi river enters from Pakistan.
It is also suspected that the same terrorists planted 05 IEDs on the railway
track near Village Talwandi between Dinanagar and Jhakoladi which were
subsequently defused by the bomb disposal squad. One night vision device was
also recovered from this spot.
The Ministry of Home
Affairs monitored the situation closely and was in constant touch with the
Punjab Government. The Army and NSG were placed on standby to support the
Punjab Police operations. I personally spoke to the Chief Minister of Punjab
and assured him of all assistance from the Central Government. The BSF and the
Army were also placed on high alert along the border.
In this terror attack,
a total number of three civilians, three Home Guards and one Police Officer
lost their lives. In addition, 10 civilians and 07 security force personnel
were injured.
I also want to inform
the House that during the last one month, there were 5 attempts at cross-border
infiltration in the J&K sector, out of which 4 were interdicted and 8
terrorists neutralized. In the remaining one instance, the terrorists went back
after effective retaliation by the Indian Forces. The Security forces in the
border are alert but the difficult terrain coupled with recent heavy rains,
resulting in excess flow in the rivers and canals along the border, could have
been a factor, in this particular group sneaking into Punjab.
I assure the Hon’ble
Members that any effort by the enemies of our nation, to undermine India’s
territorial integrity and security, or imperil the safety and security of our
citizens will meet an effective and forceful response from our security forces.
Government has been, and will remain, resolute in this regard. I take this
opportunity to assure the House that the Government is firmly committed to root
out terrorism from India. I also assure the House that the Government will do
everything possible to prevent cross-border terrorism aimed against India.
The Government offers
its heartfelt condolences to the families of civilians and security force
personnel killed in this terror attack and wishes the speedy recovery of
injured persons.”
Later intervening in
the debate, the Union Home Minister said that I am surprised that the
opposition is not ready to discuss the important issue of terrorism. I never
expected the opposition to be divided on such an important issue. On the one
side our soldiers are getting martyred and on the other hand the opposition
is divided on an important issue such as terrorism. He also quoted a couplet
:
“Cheen
chheen desh ka gulab le gaya, Tashkand me vatan ka lal so gaya
Yeh
sulah ki shakal ko sanvarate rahe, jeetane ke baad baazi harte rahe”
It is clear from this
couplet that how the security policy and the foreign policy of the Congress
Government had been in the past.
Shri Rajnath Singh
mentioned that the UPA Government’s Home Minister had coined a new terminology
of Hindu terrorism and the LeT Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed had
congratulated him. The Home Minister said that terrorism does not belong to
any caste, colour or religion. Terrorist is just a terrorist. He added
that UPA Government had diluted the issue of terrorism at Sharm-al-Sheikh and
Havana.
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KSD/PK/BK/sk