Chandigarh, May 3 (IANS): The Punjab Police and other security agencies launched a search operation in some areas of Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts in Punjab on Wednesday after four to six suspicious men were sighted in the area.

The police said that the search was still on.

They are linking the sighting of these men to an incident in Gurdaspur district on Tuesday in which a Scorpio SUV broke a police barrier.

An officer said there were at least six persons inside the vehicle when it jumped the barrier. The SUV was later found abandoned.

"It had a fake registration number plate. The car was stolen at knife-point from a person in Vijaynagar area of Jammu," the officer said.

Security agencies remained on high alert in border districts of Gurdaspur and Pathankot following the terrorist attacks on the Pathankot Air Force base in January 2016 and in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district in July 2015.

Both districts share an international border with Pakistan. Both districts are close to the strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir.