A suspicious man with a bag sparked off panic outside the Pathankot Air Force Base on Wednesday night. The bearded man, wearing a ‘khaki’ coloured trousers, was spotted moving in a suspicious manner.
He was immediately detained by the security personnel, including those of the IAF, after he apparently did not respond to orders to open his bag. Aiming their guns at him, the security personnel asked him to keep the bag away and lie on the ground.
The man was then questioned by security personnel, including the Punjab Police for about 20 minutes before being taken away for further investigation.
An alert was sounded on Wednesday in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and a search operation launched in a village after locals reported sighting of two men in army uniform moving in suspicious manner, police said.
Some villagers reported that they had seen two men in army fatigues in Tibri, which is a cantonment area, police said.
Police immediately reported the matter to Army and a joint search operation was launched, said SSP Gurpreet Singh.
There were also reports that five terrorists had sneaked into the border area of Gurdaspur and Pathankot, following which army formations have been put on alert, officials said.
>Gurdaspur was targeted by Pakistani terrorists in July last year also when they struck at a police station here.
Six terrorists in army fatigues attacked the Air Base in Pathankot on Saturday last, leading to an encounter that lasted over four days.
