Tribune News Service

Pathankot, April 16

Police in border districts of Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Batala are on a high alert after reports of ‘carjacking’ near the International border late Sunday night. IG (Border) Surinder Pal Singh Parmar confirmed the incident and added that a massive manhunt had been launched after the questioning of the car owner Gujjar Maskin Ali. The car owner told the police that two unidentified armed fled with his car after threatening him.Pathankot SSP Vivek Sheel Soni received a call from the control room around 11 pm about the incident. After making initial inquiries from the SHO Narot Jaimal Singh police station, the SSP sensed that the threat was “indeed real” and immediately put his force into action. Within two hours all vital installations in the city, including the road leading to the civil airport, Air Force station, Mamun cantonment and the ammunition dump — considered to be one of the biggest army storage facility in North India — were secured.By the time morning walkers hit the streets, the city had been converted into an impregnable fortress with the cops also establishing a dozen check posts on the strategic Jammu-Pathankot national highway.