'Punjab ready to face any terror challenge'

Chandigarh, August 2: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said on Sunday that his government was ready to meet any challenge from terrorists. Badal was reacting to opposition charges that the Punjab government failed to react to intelligence inputs on a possible terror strike leading to the July 27 Gurdaspur terror attack. He said security agencies in Punjab were fully prepared and the government was keeping a strict vigil to prevent any untoward incident in the state. “People should not get swayed by rumours,” Badal told the media in Mohali town, adjoining Chandigarh. He said the Congress was only trying to politicise the issue of terrorism at the cost of tiol interest. Seven people — a police officer, three Home Guards and three civilians — were killed when three terrorists attacked Digar town in Gurdaspur, a district bordering Pakistan, on the morning of July 27. Security forces shot dead the terrorists after an 11-hour battle. (IANS)