Two policemen were shot dead inside a police outpost in Gurdaspur, Punjab, near the Pakistan border.

GURDASPUR: Two policemen were shot dead by unidentified assailants inside a police outpost in Adhian village of Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, barely a kilometre from the Pakistan border.On Sunday evening, posters attributed to an obscure outfit, calling itself Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH), surfaced on social media, claiming responsibility for the cold-blooded murders.The killings raise alarming questions about security preparedness in this sensitive border belt. Sources said six spent casings were found on the spot. Both victims were in their early 50s. The village is around 250km from Chandigarh and 15km from the district headquarters. Shockingly, police came to know about the killings only after Banarasi Das, Dorangala SHO, who has jurisdiction of the village, called Kamaljit Singh, sarpanch of Adhian village, to check on the two policemen early Thursday morning after repeatedly failing to reach them on the phone. Kamaljit described what he witnessed upon reaching the police post around 8am. “The ASI seemed to be ‘sitting’ upright on a chair with both hands in his pockets, and the home guard was ‘lying’ under a quilt on the cot. At first glance, nothing looked unusual. But a closer look told a completely different story,” he said. He added that he immediately alerted the SHO, who rushed to the spot with his team. Soon, senior police officers were rushing to the scene as the alarm went out. SSP Gurdaspur Aditya said the attackers haven’t been identified yet. “We are probing all angles,” he said, adding that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem to Gurdaspur Civil Hospital. Sandeep Goel, DIG, Border Range, said, “We are looking into the crime from all possible angles, including potential terror and gangster links.” He hoped the case would be cracked soon, saying the “police have vital clues.” The sarpanch said that although CCTV cameras had been installed on the road leading to the police post, they were not working for quite some time. Police have sealed the entire area. Forensic teams are examining the site, and multiple units are scanning all angles – from gangster to possible terror or cross-border involvement. Police are examining claims of the so-called Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan. Its social media posts carry an emblem, a flag and images of the two policemen. The claim is presented in Hindi and English, suggesting an attempt to reach a wider audience. SSP Aditya said TTH was an “unfamiliar organisation” until now. Police are pursuing all leads and examining every possible angle as part of the investigation, he added. DIG Goel said they are verifying the claim’s authenticity, cautioning that as in the past, there have been and genuine real claims.” Gurdaspur and Pathankot districts are regarded as highly sensitive due to their history of terror attacks. On July 27, 2015, Pakistan-based terrorists targeted Dinanagar police station in Gurdaspur, and on Jan 1, 2016, a similar strike was carried out at Pathankot Air Force Base. In both cases, the terrorists were suspected to have infiltrated through the international border in Gurdaspur district. In recent months, there have been multiple reports of ‘suspicious persons’ being sighted in various parts of Pathankot district, say sources.