PATHANKOT: Three persons hailing from Assam were detained while they were roaming around in the Army area here, which had witnessed a terror attack last year, but released later on.
Punjab police today said the three labourers had failed to explain why they were there.
"They were released after we checked their antecedents and nothing was found against them," Pathankot SSP Vivek Sheel Soni said, adding they were not apprehended in the wake of recovery of an abandoned bag containing Army fatigues as claimed in some media reports.
He said security personnel were on alert to deal with any kind of situation.
Two days back, security agencies were put on high alert after an abandoned bag containing Army fatigues was found here, prompting Punjab police and the Army to launch a joint search operation.
Five shirts and two trousers were found in the bag at a secluded place near the Defence Road here. The SSP said probe into it is still on.
In 2015, three heavily-armed terrorists, wearing Army fatigues, had hijacked a car and stormed a police station in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district. They killed seven persons, including a Superintendent of Police, before they were gunned down.
Last year, four terrorists had sneaked in from across the border and had attacked the Pathankot Air Base on the intervening night of January 1 and 2, killing seven security personnel. The four terrorists were also killed.