One of the five accused, identified as Hussain, surrendered before police today and gave details following which it emerged that they were cattle smugglers. He was later put under arrest, Pathankot police said.
During preliminary investigation, it was found that the occupants had panicked on being stopped by police at a check barrier. They abandoned the car at a village in Pathankot yesterday and escaped, a police official said.
The accused were allegedly involved in the illegal trade for the last two years, the official said, adding a hunt is on to nab the other accused, all of whom hail from Jammu and Kashmir.
The occupants tried to run over the policemen and escaped. Nothing suspicious was found from the car which was later abandoned by its occupants, police had said.
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Notably, Pathankot remains on high alert after last year's terror attack.
Terrorists had sneaked in from across the border and attacked the Pathankot air base on the intervening night of January 1-2 last year, while Dinanagar in adjoining Gurdaspur district was targeted by terrorists on July 27, 2015.
Three heavily-armed terrorists wearing Army fatigues had stormed a police station in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district killing seven persons, including a Superintendent of Police, before they were gunned down during a day-long operation.
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