Search ops at Pathankot air base continue after high alert yesterday

Pathankot (Punjab): The Pathankot airbase station continued to remain on high alert as the search operation initiated in the area after an intelligence input about the presence of "suspicious men" continued into its second day today.

The joint operation of the Punjab Police, Army, Air Force and Himachal Pradesh Police was launched yesterday in villages and other areas near the airbase which had witnessed a terror attack last year, Pathankot SSP Nilambari Vijayjagdale said.

The operation is still on as a precautionary measure and more than 500 security personnel are engaged in it, she said.

"Nothing suspicious has been sighted as yet. However, the search operation is still on," Vijayjagdale told PTI.

The SSP said air surveillance is also being conducted using helicopters.

Besides patrolling by security personnel, Quick Response Teams have also been deployed to check any suspicious activity, police said.

Last year, terrorists had sneaked in from across the border and attacked the Pathankot airbase on the intervening night of January 1 and 2. The attack had claimed the lives of seven security personnel, while four terrorists were killed.

Dinanagar in Gurdaspur was targeted by terrorists on July 27 in 2015. Three heavily-armed terrorists wearing army fatigues had stormed a police station, killing seven persons, including a Superintendent of Police, before they were gunned down during a day-long operation.