Schools in four Punjab districts bordering Pakistan remain shut

Chandigarh, May 13 (IANS) Schools in five Punjab districts bordering Pakistan, except Gurdaspur, remained shut on Tuesday as a precautionary measure, officials said.

A senior government functionary told IANS that border districts, except Gurdaspur, kept schools closed.

However, the authorities in Amritsar, Pathankot, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur issued advisories shortly after the Prime Minister’s address on Monday evening, urging people to avoid venturing outside unless necessary and imposed a partial blackout after getting instructions from the Army authorities.

In Jalandhar, a surveillance drone was shot down by the armed forces on Monday evening. Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal said, “I have been informed that one surveillance drone was brought down by the armed forces around 9.20 pm near Mand village. An expert team is looking for the debris.”

In a message at 10.45 pm, he advised the people not to venture near any debris and to immediately inform the nearest police station.

Later, Aggarwal said there was no drone activity in Jalandhar after 10 pm.

The Deputy Commissioner of Hoshiarpur also announced a partial blackout after getting instructions from the Army authorities.

Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain confirmed that some explosions were heard in the Dasuya area. She said on the basis of inputs of armed forces a blackout was imposed in Dasuya and Mukeria areas.

Border district Amritsar saw normal activity but an alert was sounded and simultaneously a blackout was imposed for few hours on Monday.

Sources said an Amritsar-bound Indigo flight from Delhi was diverted after sighting of drone activity in other parts of the state, which shares a 553-km border with Pakistan.

In the early morning, Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, Sakshi Sawhney, wrote on X, “You may hear a short siren now -- it signifies that alert is over and we can resume our usual activities. Thanks for your cooperation.”

Pathankot district also remained on alert as drones were reportedly seen in Bamial area situated along the Indo-Pak border.

In his address to the nation, PM Narendra Modi blasted Islamabad for cross-border terrorism, asserting that talks and terror, blood and water cannot go hand in hand.

“Terror and talks cannot coexist. Terror and trade cannot go hand in hand. Water and blood can never flow together,” said PM Modi.

--IANS

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