Mukesh Ranjan,Tribune News Service,New Delhi, January 18

A special court in Delhi today allowed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to conduct a lie-detector test on Punjab Police senior officer Salwinder Singh in connection with the Pathankot attack.A team of the NIA took Salwinder to the court of District Judge Amarnath and moved an application seeking consent to conduct a lie-detector test on him. During in-chamber proceedings, the NIA reportedly told the judge that there were “inconsistencies” in the statements made by Salwinder during questioning, so they be allowed to conduct a lie-detector test on him. Salwinder has reportedly given his consent to undergo the test.The court directed the agency to get the test conducted on Salwinder in three days. NIA officials said the test would most probably be conducted tomorrow, subject to the availability of experts.Salwinder has claimed that his car was hijacked by terrorists before they entered the Pathankot airbase on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1. He had claimed that he was kidnapped by terrorists after his visit to a shrine and later let off as they did not know his identity.

Jaish chief not arrested

• Quoting intelligence inputs, government officials said Pakistan-based terror unit Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar had not been arrested or put under house arrest
• No case had been registered against Azhar in connection with the Pathankot attack and there had been no visible action against the leader of the terror group responsible for many attacks in India, they said
• The initial reports of Azhar being detained for the Pathankot incident were false, they said