Pathankot terror attack: One more terrorist neutralised

Pathankot : Fresh firing today started at the Air Force base here, as another militant was killed, leaving one more attacker suspected to be holed up.
“A fresh contact has been established and there was brief firing,” a senior Army official said.
Additional reinforcements have been sent to the area of operation.Five companies comprising nearly 500 personnel have been deployed by the Army in the operation.
“There is a possibility of two more terrorists being holed up at the Air Force base station,” Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh, DIG Border Range, Punjab Police, said earlier.
He added that the search and combing operation was underway and that further details would be shared later on. Earlier this morning, a fresh grenade blast ripped through the air force base, claiming the life of an NSG commando, as three other security men succumbed to injuries in a hospital after yesterday’s terror attack taking the toll of Indian security personnel to seven.
Lt Col Niranjan, a member of the NSG’s Bomb Disposal Squad, was killed while he was defusing the grenade at the scene of the terror attack as part of the combing operations that continued through the night. Four other security men were also injured in the blast.
Defence sources said Niranjan, a resident of Kerala, was killed while trying to retrieve the grenade from the body of a dead terrorist.
Three members of the Defence Security Corps (DSC) succumbed to injuries in the hospital here during the night, taking the death toll of security men killed in the attack to seven.Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: “Pained to know about the demise of Lt Col Niranjan of NSG during mopping up operations in Pathankot. The nation salutes his sacrifice.”Five attackers, a Garud commando and three DSC were killed yesterday when heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists had attempted to storm the base, triggering a day-long gunbattle at the airbase, barely 35 km from the Indo-Pak border.Among those battling for their lives in the hospital are 8 DSC personnel and a Garud commando.
The joint combing operation is still underway, a police official said, adding that the NIA has taken over the probe into the terror incident. Some senior officials of the Punjab Police led by DGP Suresh Arora are also present here.Entire area has been cordoned off and top officers of several agencies are camping on the station premises to oversee the operation, which is jointly being conducted by several security wings, including the NIA, NSG and Garud.IAF helicopters were also seen flying over the base and nearby areas to assist ground forces in the operations.