4 snatch car at gunpoint in Pathankot, alert sounded

PATHANKOT/JAMMU: The security agencies were put on a high alert here after four unidentified men snatched an Innova taxi from a Jammu-based driver by brandishing a gun at him at Madhopur village near Pathankot on late Tuesday night.

Senior police officials sprang into action and immediately sounded an alert at all the leading roads and the toll barriers on Pathankot-Amritsar and Pathankot-Jalandhar national highways.

Police have not ruled out terror angle in this incident. Driver Raj Kumar, who informed the police control room about the incident was taken away by the police officials, who are quizzing him to get the clues about the suspected car snatchers.

It is learnt that the CCTV footage of the four people with bag packs have been obtained from some place near the Jammu railway station from where these suspects hired the taxi for Amritsar but snatched it midway.

The four suspects, who were speaking in Punjabi, along with the driver, had their dinner near Kathua, where they reportedly had an alteration with the dhaba owner, who is also being quizzed reportedly by the police officials to get some information about the snatchers.

The driver said as he reached near the Madhopur railway station, one of the four suspects overpowered him by holding him from his neck, while others brandished a gun at his forehead and asked him to get down from the vehicle quietly.

Inspector general (border) SPS Parmar said three police districts have launched a manhunt and were getting details from the various check points. He did not rule out terror angle in this incident and claimed they were not ready to take any risk after the incident of carjacking in January 2016 and the subsequent terror attack on Pathankot Air Force Station.

Kathua SHO Sushil Sharma visited the Sujanpur police station to get some clues from the driver.

Pakistani militants who had stormed the Pathankot airbase in January 2016 had snatched a taxi from one resident of Bamyal and had killed him after which they had snatched a vehicle from a Punjab superintendent of police and his two friends and after bundling him out they had left the snatched vehicle on the rear side of the Air Force Station and had entered in the air base where they had killed seven security personals before all were killed by the security forces.

POLICE DO NOT RULE OUT TERROR ANGLE IN THE INCIDENT; ROADS AND TOLL BARRIERS IN THE DISTRICT WERE PUT UNDER SURVEILLANCE