BURDEN OF PROOF
Details given by India include types of car Jaish men used
NEW DELHI: Investigations into the Pathankot airbase attack have revealed that the terrorists called up phones located in Bahawalpur, Lahore and Karachi, speaking to handlers linked to the top leadership of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The five Pakistan numbers that were contacted by terrorists during the attack have been conveyed by New Delhi to Islamabad for further investigation even though these numbers fell silent the day after the attackers were neutralised.
GURPREET SINGH / HTArmymen stand guard at Attari in Amritsar. Security has been stepped up in the border area following the Pathankot strike.
India has also handed over to Pakistan concrete evidence regarding the terrorists being moved from Sialkot to the IndoPak border on December 31. The terrorists were dropped in a Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Land Cruiser, and were accompanied to the drop zone by a senior Jaish leader whose identity is known.
Top government sources said technical analysis reveals that three out of five numbers have been identified. One is linked to the Jaish-operated Al-Rahmat Trust, another to the top Jaish leadership and one to Dera Ismail Khan in Bahawalpur. One of the terrorists was in touch with a senior Jaish leader in Karachi, while the Bahawalpur number was used by one of the terrorists named Nasir to communicate with his mother Nusrat at 9.22am on January 1.
The owners of the two mobile numbers have also been identified. Help has now been sought from Pakistan through back channels to identify the remaining two numbers.
Analysis of mobiles phones of Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh’s friend Rajesh Verma has revealed that three Pakistani numbers were contacted between 3am and 9.22am on January 1, with one of these numbers also present in the mobile phone of dead taxi driver Ikagar Singh. The taxi driver’s phone reveals contacts of two other Pakistani mobile numbers.
Material recovery from the bodies of terrorists clearly shows the Islamabad link with pain-killer injections and chocolate wrappers all manufactured in Pakistan.
While three of the recovered AK-47 guns are normal assault rifles, one has an attachment for launching grenades. There has been no recovery of any global positioning device or mobile phone from the encounter site.
Pak must avoid 26/11-like case
CAUTION Repeat of Mumbai stand-off would expose Pakistan to ridicule and ignominy, says a former Pakistani envoy
NEW DELHI: The US and NATO members believe the Pathankot attack was probably supervised from Pakistan and a repeat of the standoff that followed the Mumbai attacks would expose Islamabad to “ridicule and ignominy”, a former Pakistani envoy has said.
Though army chief Gen Raheel Sharif participated in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to consider information provided by India regarding the assault on Pathankot airbase, this does not mean “the military appreciates the Prime Minister’s attempts to wrest exclusive control over Pakistan’s India policy”, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi wrote in an article in the Dawn newspaper on Tuesday.
The Pathankot incident has cast a shadow on the fragile reengagement between the two neighbours following back-toback visits to Pakistan by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the article titled “Pathankot and power plays”, Qazi wrote that a number of NATO countries “consider the intelligence supplied (including mobile phone conversations between the attackers and suspected handlers in Pakistan, a Jaishe-Mohammad letter, DNA samples of the attackers, their voice record samples, etc) to be credible leads if not conclusive evidence”.
“A repeat of the Mumbai standoff would expose Pakistan to ridicule and ignominy. Pakistan could come under immense international pressure, including the threat of sanctions, if it is seen not to be cooperating with India in the hunt for possible suspects,” he wrote.
“Along with India, the US and NATO countries lean to the view that the attack probably was planned and supervised from Pakistan by elements with a history of association with the intelligence establishment, whether with or without its direct or indirect connivance,” he added.
Reports from Pakistan have suggested an unspecified number of suspects were detained after Prime Minister Sharif ordered the formation of a joint investigation team to probe the Pathankot attack. However, there is no clarity on whether these suspects are members of JeM or linked to the attack in any way.
“Pakistan’s international legal obligations require it to follow up on these leads to determine whether or not some elements based in Pakistan were involved in the attack,” Qazi wrote.
“Otherwise, the worst assumptions about Pakistan’s international conduct will continue to be made by the international community.”
Joint interrogation for SP
NIA to jointly interrogate Salwinder with his helper and dargah caretaker
FEDERAL ANTI-TERROR AGENCY TO CONFRONT THEM WITH EACH OTHER
From page 1 NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided to jointly interrogate Punjab police officer Salwinder Singh along with his cook-cumhelper and the caretaker of Dargah Panjir, the shrine they visited before being ‘abducted’ by the Pathankot attackers on the night of December 31, sources said.
“Investigators still don’t know whether Salwinder is stating the truth or not. Now his version of events will be compared with what Madan Gopal and Dargah Panjpir’s caretaker Som have stated. The federal anti-terror agency will confront them with each other in a joint interrogation session, which is likely to take place on Wednesday,” a senior home ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
The official added that Madan Gopal and Som had been summoned to Delhi.
Salwinder on Tuesday was questioned by NIA sleuths for the second day in a row, his interrogation lasting more than seven hours. He was questioned for around eight hours on Monday.
As of now, Salwinder has been summoned under Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which is normally used for summoning witnesses. “But NIA sleuths are still not satisfied with the answers given. Once his questioning gets over, investigators will take a call on whether he will be an accused in the case or a witness,” said the official.
Salwinder had told his superiors that he and his two companions — Gopal and jeweller Rajesh Verma — were abducted by the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot airbase.
Counter-terror officials say Salwinder is being questioned about the involvement of drug cartels in the attack as it is suspected that terrorists’ weapons were brought into the country as part of a consignment of drugs.
Pak probe panel eyewash: Capt
QADIAN (GURDASPUR): Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh termed the joint investigation team (JIT) formed by Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif to look into the terror attack on the Pathankot airbase an eyewash.
“It’s ironic that the Pakistan spy agency ISI — that controls the terror outfit Jaish-eMohammed that is believed to behind the deadly strike — is a part of the JIT,” Amarinder told reporters at former PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa’s house in Qadian in Gurdaspur district.
“The Shakargarh tehsil in Pakistan that was a part of Gurdaspur district before Partition provided Pakistani intruders an easy way to sneak into India,” he claimed.
Replying to a query, the PPCC chief said Punjab Police had given information to the Centre about the presence of Pakistani ultras in the area 48 hours before they launched the attack.
CONG LEADERS ATTEND MARTYRS’ ‘BHOG’
Amarinder attended the bhog ceremonies of Gurdaspur martyrs Fateh Singh and Kulwant Singh, who laid down their lives fighting terrorists during the Pathankot attack.
Amarinder was accompanied by Punjab Congress campaign committee chairperson Ambika Soni, general secretary and incharge of Punjab affairs Shakeel Ahmad, AICC secretary Harish Chaudhary, Congress Legislative Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi, former PCC president Partap Singh Bajwa and other senior leaders.
In his tribute, Amarinder said soldiers from Gurdaspur are known for their gallantry. He also promised the families of the two martyrs all help.
‘Pakistan military officers behind consulate attack’
We saw with our own eyes and I can say 99% that those attackers were from Pakistani military and used special tactics while conducting their operation… The attackers were military personnel. They were educated and well prepared and had intelligence. SAYED KAMAL SADAT, police chief of Balkh province
1 NEW DELHI: Pakistani military officers were behind an attack on the Indian consulate in Mazar-eSharif last week, a top Afghan police official said on Tuesday.
One Afghan policeman was killed and nine others, including three civilians, were wounded in the attack on January 4 that coincided with an assault by militants on an Indian airbase in Pathankot.
Sayed Kamal Sadat, the police chief of Balkh province, said the attackers in Mazar-e-Sharif were well-trained military men “from across the border” who fought Afghan security forces during a 25-hour siege. All three attackers were killed by the Afghan troops.
“We saw with our own eyes and I can say 99% that those attackers were from Pakistani military and used special tactics while conducting their operation,” Sadat was quoted as saying by Tolo News channel.
“The attackers were military personnel. They were educated and well prepared and had intelligence. They fought us and only by Allah’s grace were we able to control them and eliminate them.”
Sadat said efforts are underway to track down, identify and detain those who assisted the attackers to gain access to a building located opposite the Indian consulate in Mazar-eSharif, the capital of Balkh.
“We are jointly working with the NDS (National Directorate of Security) director and have spoken about this – especially as they came here not able to speak in Dari or Pashtu but speaking in Urdu. It means obviously there is someone who guided those attackers and helped the attackers,” he said.
The attackers stormed a multistory building and began firing at the Indian consulate with automatic weapons and rocket launchers. Afghan forces eventually gunned down the attackers, who had holed up on the fourth floor.
The attackers scribbled a message in blood on the walls of a room that said the assault was carried out to avenge Afzal Guru, who was hanged for his role in the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.
The attackers in Pathankot too spoke of attacking the airbase as revenge for the execution of Afzal Guru.
Indian authorities have blamed the Pathankot attack on Pakistan-based Jaish-eMohammed.
Three arrested for ramming bike into Air Force base gate
INTERROGATED FOR FIVE HOURS TO GET DETAILS OF THEIR ANTECEDENTS; CAME TO SEE AIR-FORCE BASE UNDER 12TH WING AT BEHLANA IN SEC 31, CLAIMS YOUTHS
From page 1 CHANDIGARH: Panic gripped the Air Force base in Behlana village here on Monday evening after three youth, including a minor, tried to forcibly enter the premises. The trio rammed their motorbike into the gate after they saw an official approaching the gate.
The three were held after police was informed of the incident. The youths have stated to police that they came to see the Air Force base here under 12th wing at Behlana, Sector 31, Chandigarh.
According to police, TS Thakur, Assistant Security Officer, 12th Wing, Chandigarh alleged that Mohamed Ajim, a minor and Imran Ahmed all three natives of Bijnore, UP, tried to gain entry into Behlana Gate.
Mohamed Ajim is a resident of Baltana village while the other two are residents of Manimajra, Chandigarh.
The complainant stated to the police that three youths came on a motor cycle (CH-01-AG-1185) on Monday night and when an official of air force saw them approaching towards the gate, the youths stopped and then came speedily on the motorcycle and banged it on the gate of the station.
Meanwhile, the three have been apprehended under section 448 (punishment for house-trespass), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) Indian Penal Code in Police Station Sector-31, Chandigarh. They were laterbailed out.
5-HOUR INTERROGATION
In the wake of the recent Pathankot terror attack on air base, the officials are leaving nothing to chance. The trio was bailed but were summoned on Tuesday where they were interrogated for five hours to ascertain their motive behind trying to gain entry.
The local police, along with IB officials, grilled them and were also verifying their antecedents along with the details of their relatives.
A senior police official said that they were getting details of their native residence and now they would cross confirm the details from Uttar Pradesh (UP).
Taking no chances, BSF beefs up security in Attari sector
LESSON LEARNT Other than strengthening the security at sensitive locations, including integrated check post, frisking of visitors, too, has been increased
AMRITSAR: Following the terror attack in which Pakistani terrorists stormed into the Pathankot Air Base on January 2, the Border Security Force (BSF) has given further fillip to the security measures in the Attari sector, especially outside the integrated check post (ICP) and the area where the retreat ceremony takes place.
GURPREET SINGH/HTArmy jawans deployed outside the Attari border in Amritsar on Tuesday.As soon as one reaches outside the integrated check post, which is about a kilometre from the zero line that separates India and Pakistan; a sudden increase in security is very much visible. The combat vehicle fitted with weapons, barbed wires and deep-rooted barricades, all indicate about the beefed-up security.
The BSF, already under scanner after the suspected infiltration of the Pakistani terrorists through the Bamial Sector to strike on the Pathankot Air Base, it now seems is leaving no stone unturned in guarding the strategically important Attari region.
Notably, the Attari sector is highly sensitive as thousands of tourists reach this place every evening to witness the “Beating the Retreat Ceremony”.
Other than strengthening the security at sensitive locations, it is learnt that frisking of visitors has been increased and even a three-tier security system has been put in place to ensure that nothing suspicious is being carried. It must be mentioned that the BSF, recently, had faced an embarrassment in this sector when a man in a SUV crossed all barricades to hit on the gates on the zero line.
Talking to HT, DIG BSF Sumer Singh said, “We are already on alert as this area is very sensitive. We have strengthened the security at sensitive locations. No compromise is being made with the security.”
“Strong barricades are being set up outside the ICP. Even a heavy vehicle cannot tumble them. Other than this, surveillance equipments such as alarms and sensors are being put in place to further strengthen the security system,” he added.
Keeping in view the fog and the alert, the BSF has also intensified the vigil along the fence. The BSF is using electronic gadgets to heighten the vigil. “We have ensured that all floodlights on the fence are in workable condition and if there was any sort of damage in barbed wire, it has been repaired. We are maintaining a high vigil and no chances are being taken,” he added.