*NIA registers 3 FIRs in terror strike
Sanjeev Pargal
PATHANKOT, Jan 4: As re-enforcement of Army and NSG commandos was today pressed into service to step up operations along with Indian Air Force (IAF) and Punjab Police inside IAF air base here, six terrorists have been killed so far—four on Day 1 followed by one each during next two days but the security agencies were not taking a chance as they continued to search and sanitize every inch of the air base before declaring the operation as closed. Death toll in the operation on Day 3 stood at 13—seven security personnel including Lt Col Niranjan E Kumar and six militants, all of whom were believed to be Pakistanis.
The BSF has, meanwhile, submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on reported infiltration of militants from the IB while the IAF has also ordered an in-house probe on infiltration of militants inside highly fortified IAF air base, spread over at least 2000 acres of land that housed very vital assets of the Air Force including the fighter planes, official sources told the Excelsior.
As the operation against the terrorists entered the third day, NSG, IAF and Army officers said there was no collateral damage to the strategic Air Force assets.
National Security Guards (NSG) IG Major General Dushant Singh told a press conference this evening, his second in the day, that security forces have so far eliminated five militants during the operation, which entered into third day today. However, sources said, bodies of five militants have been recovered and security forces will declare six militants as dead only after his body was recovered.
Sources disclosed that a multi-storeyed building has been blasted to kill the lone surviving militant today. However, the security forces were not ruling out presence of more militants and were engaged in search of every inch of the air base though majority reports were that there were only six militants inside the base and all of them might have been killed.
Maj Gen Dushant Singh made brief announcement in the press conference that just lasted three minutes at the air base here and refused to take questions on the fate of sixth militant.
Singh, who was flanked by Air Officer Commanding, Air commodore J S Damoon and Army Brigadier Anupinder Singh, said “the entire operation will continue till all the personnel, assets, structure are physically combed. So it is likely to take a long time.”
Sources said the fifth militant had been eliminated last night itself inside multi-storeyed building of the IAF, which housed residential quarters, which have been vacated after the attack. His body was recovered this afternoon. The six militants were killed today when the building was razed to the ground.
Though Major General refused to comment on number of the militants, highly placed sources said that there was no possibility of the militants being more than six in numbers, which indicated that all of them have been confirmed killed and their bodies recovered along with large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives.
“The rigorous training through which the militants had gone can be well gauged from the fact that two of them continued to fight for second day till last night while one of them fought till this afternoon,’’ sources said pointing out that the operation had started at 3 am on January 2.
“They appeared to be battled hardened ultras…something only a professional Army can train,’’ sources said. While four militants were neutralized on first day of the attack, fifth was killed yesterday night and the sixth and most probably the last was eliminated in the afternoon, though an official announcement of his killing hasn’t been made. Sources said security forces wanted to recover body of the sixth militant first before declaring him as dead.
According to sources, security forces could have eliminated the militants earlier but they wanted to capture at least one or two militants alive. This led to delay in the operation. Even the attempt was made to capture alive the militant killed last night but ultimately he had to be killed as he continued heavy firing and lobbying of grenades.
Still, they said, security forces, mainly the commandos of NSG, Special Forces of Army (para commandos), Garud commandos of IAF and other agencies involved in the operation tried to catch the surviving militant alive today. However, he too had to be killed to avoid own casualties as the militant had taken positing in a safe area inside the multi-storeyed building.
Security agencies were not ruling out the presence of more militants inside the air base and would sanitize every inch of the base before declaring the operation as closed successfully.
Maj Gen Dushant Singh, who had earlier said four terrorists have been killed, told the media in the evening that they have been able to eliminate a fifth terrorist.
“The operations are still going on. We have been able to eliminate the fifth terrorist. Combing and search operations are going on. Given the magnitude of the operation of the air base, the operation will continue to be concluded till we are able to fully render the base safe,” he said.
Since Saturday, conflicting versions on the number of terrorists killed and those of the security forces had been circulating.
Briefing the media in the evening, Maj Gen Singh said security forces including the NSG and Army have deployed major combat elements along with medical and administrative support.
Similarly Air Force has deployed all its assets – aviation, surveillance, guards in this particular operation, he said adding that the police and the intelligence agencies are also working in sync to make the operation successful.
“As I highlighted earlier, given the magnitude of the operation of the air base, the operation will continue to be concluded till we are able to fully render safe the base. However, I would like to inform that all the assets of the air base including personnel, families have been secured and are safe,” he said.
Earlier in the day, a powerful explosion shook a double storeyed building at the air base.
Singh, who was flanked by Air Officer Commanding, Air commodore J S Damoon and Brigadier Anupinder Singh, said “the entire operation will continue till all the personnel, assets and structure are physically combed. So it is likely to take a long time.”
“These terrorists were holed up in a double storeyed building which is a living accommodation of the Air Force personnel and currently the operations are in progress to clear this building from the terrorists,” Brigadier Singh said.
The area of the Air Force base is “very large” where strategic assets of IAF are kept, besides families of IAF personnel and schools are located in it. “It is a mini city,” the IAF officer said.
He said that the terrorists have come “well prepared” and are “heavily armed” with an aim to target the strategic assets of the Air Force.
The officers said the Army was on general alert since January 1 following intelligence inputs of a terror strike.
The officer said given the personnel and strategic assets located at the base, combing operations are going on continuously by security forces.
Air commodore Damoon said the AOC-in-C Air Marshal SP Dev is overseeing the operation.
Sources said six terrorists have been neutralized in the operation while one Garud commando, one NSG officer and five personnel of Defence Security Corps (DSC) were martyred. Seventeen security personnel were also injured, who have been admitted in Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir (Chandigarh) and Military Hospital, Pathankot, where most of them were responding to the treatment.
On the receipt of the input of a terror strike in the air base, Army initially mobilized six columns and subsequently two more columns along with a platoon of Infantry Combat Vehicles were deployed at the air base, Maj Gen Singh said.
The first contact with the militants was established by the Garud and with the joint operation of NSG, Garud and Army, the terrorists were confined to specific area.
On January 2, the Army columns came under fire from a group of militants holed up in an open patch of land and subsequently in the retaliation, four militants were killed.
Sanitization and search operation continued throughout night and day, he said
It was yesterday late noon that terrorists again opened fire on our column, and they are engaged.
The terrorists who had stormed the Pathankot air base were “well trained” and “strongly stocked” with arms and ammunitions to inflict heavy damage to the assets stationed there and that explains the long counter terror operations going on against them, top Government sources said.
They also attributed the long period of operation, which has lasted for three days, to strict instructions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar not to take “unnecessary risks” to avoid casualties.
Explaining why seven security personnel have been killed, the sources said: “the first five Defence Security Corps personnel were killed when the terrorists attacked a rest room at 3 am where a shift change was happening. Despite that one of the DAC guards killed a terrorist with his own gun before being killed.
“We lost one Garud commando during the operation in the gun fight. The killing of an NSG Lt Col was just bad luck as he died while removing a terrorist body”.
The sources maintained that the terrorists’ plan to inflict heavy damage to the air force assets, MiG 21 fighter aircraft and Mi 25 attack choppers, stationed at the base had been countered.
They said that the terrorists were “better trained than the 2008 Mumbai terror attackers”.
Asked why the operation has taken so much time, the sources said both Modi and Parrikar had given clear instructions that “unnecessary risks” should not be taken.
“The operation taking time is not the issue. The main aim was to ensure low casualties from our side and to get at least one of the terrorists alive,” sources said.
They added that the terrorist were carrying AK-47s, Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGLs), 52 mm mortars and GPS locators.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry had directed the BSF, which guards the International Border with Pakistan, yesterday to submit a report on the breach by terrorists today positively who sneaked into India and carried out terror strike in Pathankot.
Taking strong exception to the breach along the Indo-Pak International Border, the Home Ministry asked the border guarding force to explain how heavily armed terrorists could enter India from across the border to carry out the mayhem, sources said.
There have been several breaches along the IB in recent past, including one in July when three heavily armed terrorists entered Gurdaspur and killed seven people, including a Superintendent of Police.
Sources said as per initial reports, the terrorists might have entered India through one of the rivulets, which are unfenced, in Punjab.
India shares a 3,323-km-long border, including Line of Control, with Pakistan of which 553 km falls in Punjab and 1,225 km in Jammu and Kashmir, most of which is fenced.
BSF currently has 178 Border Out Posts in Punjab and 90 in Jammu and Kashmir along the International Border.
In its reply, BSF today submitted a report to the Centre about the possible route taken by the attackers of the Pathankot IAF base, claiming there was no breach in the fence but there were some gapping holes along the International Border and malfunctioning of electronic surveillance equipment.
Senior BSF officials also visited Bamiyal, a village located in Pathankot, and took stock of the unfenced and riverine areas along the border with Pakistan.
The Home Ministry has directed the BSF, which guards the International Border with Pakistan, to submit a report on the breach by terrorists who sneaked into India and carried out terror strike in Pathankot.
Officials said the BSF claimed in its report that there were no signs or evidence to suggest that the terrorists had breached the fence erected at maximum places along the border in Punjab or neighbouring Jammu.
However, there are numerous pockets and ‘nullahs’ which are unfenced and growth of elephant grass can provide an easy cover to the infiltrating group, the sources said.
While some of the Hand Held Thermal Imagers (HHTI) and Battle Field Surveillance Radars, placed at the places where fencing is not erected, did not pick up any signal, some of these equipment had some “technical glitch” resulting in non-registering of any activity, the sources said.
The BSF informed that after the Gurdaspur terror strike on July 27 last year, a battalion (1,000 personnel) had been deployed additionally along the Pathankot sector, they said.
Sources said the IAF has also ordered an in-house probe into the attack to go into the reasons of at least six militants sneaking inside highly fortified air base, which housed very crucial assets including fighter planes and ultimate aim of the militants was to target these assets. However, their plot was foiled.
Meanwhile, Pakistan based United Jehad Council (UJC) has claimed responsibility for Pathankot attack. Experts, however, expressed doubts over the claim as the attack was widely believed to be the handiwork of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit.
Meanwhile, NIA today registered three cases to probe the entire conspiracy behind the strike at the IAF base in Pathankot in Punjab believed to have been carried out by Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The cases were initially registered by local police stations in Pathankot that were transferred and handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a central probe agency that was set up after the audacious 26/11 Mumbai terror strike to probe all terror cases in the country.
The first case pertains to Superintendent of Police Salwant Singh’s abduction and the second that of killing of taxi driver Ikagar Singh. Both the cases were registered at Narot Jaimal Singh Police Station in Pathankot district.
The third and the main case, registered at Police Station Division No. 2 Pathankot, relates to the terrorist attack on the Air Force Station at Pathankot.
A 20-member team of NIA led by an Inspector General- ranking officer has been camping at Pathankot since January 2 to supervise the ongoing investigations.
An officer of the rank of Superintendent of Police has been appointed as the Chief Investigating Officer of the case.
The NIA registered the case under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Arms Act against unknown persons, official sources said.
The NIA will take over the evidence and custody of the bodies of terrorists once the Army and NSG give clearance that the Pathankot operation is over, the sources said.
The mandate of the NIA probe will include entry of the militants into India, killing of 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.
The sources said the investigators will also try and ascertain the conspiracy that was hatched on Pakistani soil by the terrorists and if possible find out the state and non- state actors in that country.
The NIA may also question or seek custodial interrogation of 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, they said.
The case handed over to NIA included the case FIR No. 01 of 2016 dated 01.01.2016 registered at Police Station Narot Jaimal Singh, Pathankot under Sections 364, 365, 367, 368, 397, 398, 419 and 161 IPC and Section 25 of Arms Act. This relates to the alleged abduction of an SP ranking police officer on the intervening night of 31st Dec. 2015 and 1st Jan. 2016, which is suspected to have been carried out by same group of terrorists.
Second case included case FIR No. 2 of 2016 dated 01.01.2016 registered at Police Station Narot Jaimal Singh, Pathankot under Sections 302, 307 and 34 of IPC. This case relates to the killing of one Akagar Singh, by unknown persons, and it is suspected to be handiwork of same group of terrorists.
The third case was FIR No. 1 of 2016 dated 02.01.2016 registered at Police Station Division No. 2 Pathankot, under Sections 302, 307, 120B, 121, 121A, 124 and 153 of IPC read with Sections 18, 20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, Section 25 of Arms Act, Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. This case relates to the terrorist attack on the Air Force Station at Pathankot, which as per the FIR, began on 2nd Jan. 2016.
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 gifted four such choppers to Afghanistan last month.
Follow our WhatsApp channel