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Neena Chaudhary in Chandigarh
Continuing their strikes against the security forces, terrorists on Sunday blew up a large ammunition dump in Mamoon Cantonment near the border town of Pathankot in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
Eyewitnesses in Pathankot, about 5 kilometres from the dump, said tall flames could be seen and explosions caused by ammunition going off heard.
Officials confirming the fire did not rule out sabotage.
Pathankot, which is a major garrison town, is the only rail link the country has with Jammu & Kashmir. The security forces deployed to counter terrorists there are provided ammunition from the Mamoon dump.
Witnesses said a fire broke out in the dump at about 2100 IST. The loud explosions caused by the triggering of ammunition caused panic among the people living in surrounding localities.
Senior officers of the army, police and civil administration of Gurdaspur district rushed to the spot, which had been cordoned off and sealed.
Though casualties could not be confirmed, experts from the army will begin their inquiry and search for live ammunition, which could have been blown away, early on Monday.
Avinash Sharma, who owns a hotel in Pathankot, said that from the other side of the town he could see flames that were at least as high as 10 metres and hear loud explosions going off.
"First we thought that war had broken out with Pakistan and large artillery pieces were being fired. Then it was rumoured that a fierce encounter was on between the security forces and terrorists on the outskirts of the town," he said.
"But then we saw terrorised people rushing from the cantonment side towards Pathankot. They informed us that a fire had broken out in the cantonment. At present the entire town of Pathankot is on the rooftops in a state of panic," he added.
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