An alert was sounded in Pathankot, Punjab after an abandoned car was found in the area’s Farfal village. The car’s passengers escaped on Wednesday night after being chased by villagers who noticed it had a Jammu and Kashmir registration number, locals said, PTI reported.

However, Senior Superintendent of Police Pathankot Rakesh Kumar Kaushal told The Hindu that there was no number plate on the car and that the car was being searched.

The car was found in the Bamiyal sector, which is close to the border of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir’s border with Pakistan. It is the area through which militants had entered before the attack on the Pathankot airbase on January 2, 2016.