CHANDIGARH: Punjab has issued a red alert after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir where 26 tourists were killed, with checking and patrolling being intensified at interstate and inter district crossings.
Security has been enhanced at tourist spots, religious places and more than 160 institutions in the state where students from Kashmir are studying. The state government has also increased the security of individuals at high risk and increased patrolling around their residences.
Interacting with the media after a high-level meeting with officers of the civil and police administration, CM Bhagwant Mann said Punjab is on high vigil as the state has a border with Pakistan and Jammu & Kashmir. He said that the terrorist attack on innocent tourists is a barbaric and inhuman act and deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Mann said that they were ready to meet any sort of challenge and no one will be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace in the state.
He said that the state government is fully capable of dealing with any proxy war unleashed by the Pakistan-sponsored anti-Punjab and anti-national nexus of criminals.
Mann said that the Punjab government is in constant touch with the Jammu and Kashmir government to safely bring back Punjabis stuck there.
Mann also exhorted the people to exercise restraint in these circumstances by displaying the ethos of religious tolerance, unity and brotherhood.
Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said that after the terror attack last evening, the state government had issued a security alert and first increased the vigilance at the inter-state boundary with J&K. Later, they took measures to enhance security and patrolling in the state, especially in public areas having high footfall, to maintain a sense of security among the public, he added.
"We are in touch with the J&K Police and all intelligence agencies on a real-time basis. Pakistan is trying to make India bleed with a thousand cuts. We have given a befitting reply to the terror modules, and we will continue doing the same," he said.
