IANS
PATHANKOT, JANUARY 3
A powerful blast killed an NSG officer at the IAF base near here and firing was heard inside on Sunday as security forces searched for terrorists still holed up after an audacious terror attack that has left seven security personnel dead.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced the death of the NSG officer, Lt. Col. Niranjan, saying he was killed in “mopping up operations” in Pathankot.
The minister did not give details of the death, but official sources said he was killed when a powerful explosion took place while he was trying to lift something in the air base.
National Security Guard (NSG) commandos and the army’s para-commandos (special forces) were engaged in a gunfight with terrorists still believed to be inside and have been cornered in one area of the air base.
Four of the terrorists, who stormed the sprawling IAF base on Pathankot’s outskirts, were killed on Saturday after they killed three Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel in the pre-dawn suicide attack. Three other IAF personnel, from the Defence Security Corps (DSC), succumbed to their injuries on Sunday.
Official sources said one or two terrorists appeared to be still in the complex and were engaged in sniping at security forces who were trying to catch them alive if possible.
“Firing is still going on in the base,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Border Range) Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh told the media here. “We were aware there may have been more than four terrorists.”
Saturday’s gun battle lasted for over 15 hours.
The technical area where the IAF’s MIG-21 fighter jets, MI-35 attack helicopters and other critical assets are stationed was secure, said the sources.
A thorough search and combing operation continued at the IAF base and nearby areas. The army, NSG, IAF commandos, para-military forces and Punjab Police were involved in the operation.
IAF helicopters flew over the base and nearby areas through the night and since early Sunday to assist the ground forces.
“The search operations are continuing. Everything is being looked at minutely. The operation will end only after the search is completed,” a senior Punjab Police official told IANS.
Security agencies were probing possible local support the terrorists got in the area after sneaking into India from Pakistan on December 30-31. The border is about 30 km from here.
At least four terrorists breached a high-security perimeter and entered the IAF base. Uncertainty prevailed on the number of terrorists killed at the base, with Rajnath Singh withdrawing an earlier tweet putting the number at five.
Authorities finally put their number at four. All of them were reportedly in touch with their handlers in Pakistan even as they took on the security forces.
NIA to lodge case in Pathankot terror strike
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), mandated to probe terror cases, will register a case tomorrow to probe the conspiracy of Pakistan-based terrorist group, believed to be Jaish-e-Mohammed, behind the strike at the IAF base in Pathankot in Punjab.
A team of NIA was at the spot yesterday as per the standard operating procedure and today the Government decided to hand over the case to the NIA after taking concurrence from the Punjab government, official sources said.
The mandate of the NIA probe will include entry of the militants into India, killing of a taxi driver Ikagar Singh, kidnapping of Superintendent of Police-rank officer of Punjab Police, who was later released and entry into the IAF campus, the sources said.
They said the investigators will also try and ascertain the conspiracy that was hatched on the Pakistani soil by the terrorists and if possible find out the state and non-state actors in that country.
As per the standard operating procedure, an NIA team is rushed to the site of terror strike so that they can share their expertise as well as have first-hand information about the case, the sources said.
The NIA may also question or seek custodial interrogation of a sacked IAF personnel Ranjith KK, a Leading Air Craftman (LAC) with IAF posted at Bhatinda, who was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly supplying information to ISI, the sources said.
The Pathankot IAF facility, located near the border with Pakistan, is the base of MiG-21 fighter planes and MI-25 attack helicopters of Air Force.
India recently gifted four such choppers to Afghanistan last month.
BJP had on Saturday indicated that if the terror attacks in Pathankot are found to have been supported by the Pakistani establishment, making it clear any evidence of complicity of Pakistan’s state actors in the attack, will adversely impact the fresh peace initiative that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken with the neighbouring country.
While there has been no change yet in the schedule for the foreign secretary level talks that are on the anvil, any shift in the schedule will depend on the way Pakistan reacts to the attacks. According to sources, whether to go ahead with the talks now hinges on how much the Nawaz Sharif government “cooperates” with the Indian authorities in the aftermath of the attack.
When asked about the possible impact of the terror strike on the Indo-Pak talks, which received a fillip after Modi made a surprise visit to Lahore, party secretary Shrikant Sharma said, “the right decision will be taken at the right time.”
BJP has traditionally taken a tough stand on the issue of terror, especially one emanating from Pakistan and any dilution of the terror plank will be seen as a turn-around and go down adversely with its core votery. Hence, it is at odds that the terror strike and peace talks will go together.
The party condemned the attack and congratulated the security forces for “foiling” the terror attack on the air base and said India was capable of giving a befitting reply to such attacks.
“BJP condemns it. Our brave soldiers have foiled the terror attack on the air base. We congratulate our armed forces that they were able to thwart it with their wisdom and valour. India is capable of giving a befitting reply to any terror attack,” Sharma said, giving out the party line.
BJP pays its tributes to the soldiers killed in the attack, he added.
BJP took a while to come out with its official line of response to the attack as operation to foil the attack took its time. The party line had to be balanced, at a critical juncture when the peace talks had been initiated rather dramatically by the PM, and BJP’s tough line on terror too had to be factored in. The official response had to override some of the first responses that hinted that the peace move “shall not be revoked”.
