Pathankot: NIA seeks details of four JeM operatives from Pak
3 March 2016 11:22 PM GMT
National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the terror strike on Pathankot IAF airbase in January, has sent Letters Rogatory to Pakistan seeking details of four Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists who had carried out the attack.
Ahead of the visit of Pakistani Special Investigating Team (SIT), likely to take place in the last week of March, the NIA sent the Letters Rogatory, a legal document sent through the special court asking details about the phone numbers dialled by the four terrorists ahead of carrying out the strike at the airbase of Indian Air Force on the intervening night of January 1 and 2.
In a related development, it appears that no terrorists were present at the Airmen billet. The elite National Security Guards had spent 48 hours clearing the area.
While NIA is officially tight-lipped on the issue and say that it was awaiting forensic report from CFSL Chandigarh, sources privy to the development said that no human remains or ammunition have been found from the airmen billet which has been extensively searched by sleuths of NIA and central intelligence agencies.
The initial input about the terrorists was four only which had been shared with NSG and army units. However, even the Intelligence Bureau was in for a shock when NSG, which was rattled by the death of its officer Lt Col Niranjan EK, claimed that there was gunfire from the billet and took another two days to clear it, the sources said.
In the meantime, the NIA, in its Letters Rogatory, have sought details about telephone numbers dialled by the terrorists before launching an attack on the IAF base.
The numbers are believed to be in the names of people connected with Jaish terror group including Mullah Dadullah and Kashif Jaan. The numbers shared belong the Pakistani telecom operators like Mobilink, Warid and Telenor.
Suspects spotted near border, BSF sounds alert
An alert has been sounded in villages located near the Indo-Pak border in Pathankot district and patrolling intensified after BSF alerted police on spotting three to five suspects in Pakistan side near the border.
“An alert has been sounded in and around villages located near Indo-Pak border and night patrolling by security personnel has been stepped up in the wake of information with regard to suspect shared by BSF personnel,” a Pathankot district police official said.
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