Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, January 15

Lt Col Niranjan E Kumar, head of the Bomb Disposal Unit of the National Security Guards who was killed in the recent terror attack at Pathankot airbase, has been awarded the Chief of Army Staff’s Commendation on the occcasion of Army Day 2016. The officer had reportedly been killed in a blast while handling a body of a terrorist that was booby trapped, during the sanitising operations. He was an officer from the Corps of Engineers and went on deputation to the NSG in 2014.The list of commendation cards issued by the Army shows his rank as Major, but mentions his posting with the NSG. A total of 503 persons across all arms and services, including a handful of civilians, have been given commendations this year.The list of martyrs for the past year released by the Army does not mention Lt Col Kumar’s name.

Mukesh Ranjan,Tribune News Service.New Delhi, January 15

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar met in the national capital on Friday to discuss progress on investigations into the recent attack on an Air Force base in Pathankot, review security and analyse intelligence reports ahead of Republic Day.(Also read: Foreign secys to talk, not now)NSA Ajit Doval and secretaries of Home and Defence were also present at the meeting.”In view of the continuing threats from hostile elements from across the border, the need to further upgrade both intelligence and preventive abilities specially in terms of technology was stressed.It was decided that the security audit of all vulnerable stations, of armed forces, para-military forces and police would be carried out within a given timeframe,” official sources said.French President Francois Hollande will be chief guest at the main function for Republic Day.Intelligence reports suggest that 6–10 Jaish-e-Mohammad militants had crossed over into India through Punjab recently. Six suspected JeM terrorists were killed in the Pathankot air base after three days of fierce gun battle but sources suggest some may still be at large.Besides, according to an intelligence report by the Punjab Police, 15 militants may have crossed over into India from Pakistan.An additional 10,000 paramilitary soldiers have already been stationed at Delhi. Security has been also been steeped up at Delhi’s IGI airport after another intelligence input suggested a possible hostage situation. Both domestic and international flights have been asked to upgrade security, with some passengers even being made to undergo ‘secondary ladder checking’ in some flights, conducted while entering the aircraft.Friday’s meeting came a day after India and Pakistan deferred talks between foreign secretaries of the two countries and India gave a joint team from Pakistan permission to visit to investigate the Pathankot attack.Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag had said on Wednesday that the security environment facing the nation was becoming more “complex and dynamic” and that at least 17 militant training camps remained active in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, up from the 42 earlier. — (With inputs from PTI)

Simran Sodhi,Tribune News Service,New Delhi, January 11

Even as India maintained its position that Foreign Secretary-level talks could not be held till Pakistan took ‘action’ against perpetrators of the Pathankot attack, the government of the neighbouring nation today took a series of steps in that direction. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif constituted a joint investigation team (JIT) comprising officials of the Military Intelligence, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau to investigate the leads provided by India and to take action against the perpetrators. Raids were conducted in Gujranwala, Jhelum and Bahawalpur districts, leading to some arrests. With the Foreign Secretaries scheduled to meet in Islamabad on January 15, it is clear Pakistan is making an effort to redeem the dialogue process. However, sources within the government maintained that talks could not happen unless Pakistan took action. Today’s developments notwithstanding, the sources said that India wanted to see action against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader Masood Azhar, who is believed to have masterminded the Pathankot attack. Sources said India would be closely watching the developments over the next few days. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today went to Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence and is understood to have discussed the issue. However, there was no official word on the meeting that lasted 20 minutes. It is reliably learnt that the National Security Advisers of the two countries continue to be in touch.       The meeting chaired by the Pakistan PM to form the JIT was attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, National Security Adviser Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Sources confirmed that Army Chief Raheel Sharif had also been kept in the loop by the Nawaz Sharif government.  Meanwhile, Rajindar Sachar, Chief Justice (retd), today said the India-Pakistan talks should go ahead despite the Pathankot attack. “Pathankot must not be allowed to postpone Foreign Secretary-level meetings between India and Pakistan. The open public trust between India and Pakistan, spoken of both by Modi and Nawaz Sharif meeting at Lahore, should not be allowed to go waste, notwithstanding the provocative Pathankot incident by terrorists coming from across the border,” said Sachar.

Pilgrims denied visa

• In a move that is likely to further strain India-Pakistan ties, India has denied visa to 75 Pakistani pilgrims. Officials in the Pakistan High Commission here said the action was inconsistent with the vision of the leadership of both countries and against the principles of ‘Protocol on Visits to the Religious Shrines, 1974’. India maintained that the visas were denied on purely procedural grounds, and that under the protocol on visits to religious shrines, an organising committee or the local authorities were required to extend logistical support to the visa applicants. However, in this case this had not been done.

Tribune News Service,Jammu, January 8

Security forces today recovered a rich haul of arms and ammunition from Reasi district.“Based on specific information received from reliable sources, the Rashtriya Rifles battalion at Samote and police personnel from the Chasana police station recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from a natural hideout in Kuliwala Forest in Chasana tehsil of Reasi district today,” said a Defence spokesperson.The cache included one AK-56 rifle, one 7.63 mm pistol, one 303 rifle, one sniper rifle Dragunov, five magazines of AK-56 rifle, one magazine of pistol, 75 rounds of AK-56 rifle, 55 rounds of Pika, two rounds of pistol, six rounds of sniper rifle, one grenade UBGL, one rotating bolt of AK 56 rifle, 11 fired cases of AK-56 and two fired cases of sniper rifles.The recovery of the cache had prevented any untoward incident in the area and thwarted evil designs of terrorists, he said.

More BSF men to guard sensitive points as assessment lists gaping holes

Ajay Banerjee,Tribune News Service,New Delhi, January 7

After a comprehensive assessment of the Pathankot terror attack, the  Indian security establishment has found that conduits for smuggling drugs on either side of the border were used  by terrorists to cross over to India with arms, including mortars.Most of these drug conduits on the Pakistani side are controlled by the ISI and have in the past been used to push arms and terrorists inside the Indian territory.Top sources said it was clear that the six terrorists, who attacked the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Pathankot at 3.30 am on January 2, entered India in two groups.The group carrying bigger weapons arrived before the second group of four militants who killed taxi driver Ikagar Singh and “abducted” SP Salwinder Singh. The complicity of BS Force officials in allowing the drug carriers to pass through unfenced portions of the border and also middle-level politicians in Punjab is not ruled out. After the assessment, three key steps have been initiated. First, Punjab will get additional BSF companies to guard sensitive segments, especially the riverine stretch that is not fenced. Second, a way has been found for foolproof security in the area where the Ravi and its tributaries criss-cross  the border. Third, security on the periphery of military bases  will be strengthened. A new method will be devised for the job.After an alert was received, the first priority before Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha was to secure the assets. The MiG 21 fighter jets were moved out while the Army hiked security around missiles, ATC, ammunition and fuel dumps. Some 500 armed soldiers were stationed in Pathankot on January 1, hours before the attack. The immediate task at hand was to protect the 3,000 families inside the air base.  IG Operations of the National Security Guard (NSG) Maj Gen Dushyant Singh was made the commander of the operations in consultation with the Army.

Finding the gaps

• Most drug conduits on the Pakistani side are controlled by the ISI and have in the past helped push arms and terrorists into India
• It is now clear that the six Pathankot air base attackers entered India in two groups
• The group carrying bigger weapons arrived before the second group of four militants
• The second group killed taxi driver Ikagar Singh and also ‘abducted’Salwinder Singh, SP

Our Correspondent.Mandi Ahmedgarh, December 31

To spread awareness about welfare schemes for ex-servicemen and their families, the Defense Services Welfare Department organised an awareness workshop at Malaudh village near here today.Director Defence Services Welfare, Punjab, Brigadier Jatinder Singh Arora presided over the function.Officers of the department led by Brigadier Arora called upon members of families of the ex-servicemen to be associated with armed forces which besides providing dignified lifestyle to them, will also give rare opportunity to serve the nation.While interacting with the ex-servicemen, widows, veer naaris of the area, Brigadier Arora told about various state and Central government welfare schemes and steps taken by the state government to hike monetary benefits for the fraternity.C-PYTE, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute and Mai Bhaago Armed Forces Institute for Girls were cited among the organisations working for educating wards and members of families of the ex-servicemen. He listened to the grievances of the fraternity and assured them speedy action.