Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 18: With Centre determined to ensure that Pathankot terror like attack is not repeated in future and all infiltration routes of the militants are plugged along the International Border (IB), a high level team of National Investigating Agency (NIA) headed by IG Sanjeev Kumar today conducted an extensive tour of the IB in Bamiyal sector of Pathankot and Hiranagar sector of Kathua for thorough review of the situation along with the Border Security Force (BSF) officials, who man the borders.
Official sources told the Excelsior that IG NIA Sanjeev Kumar, DIG Mukesh Singh and other top officers of the Agency, which has been investigating January 2 terror attack at Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Pathankot, held detailed review of security situation, along Pathankot and Kathua sectors including the gaps in Bamiyal sector of Pathankot, which the militants had exploited twice to infiltrate into the Indian territory and carry out terror attacks.
Though the NIA had confined itself to Pathankot sector so far as reports had emerged that the militants had infiltrated into the Indian territory from Bamiyal, this was for the first time that they also visited forward areas of Hiranagar sector in Kathua district including Border Out Posts (BOPs) of Bobiya and Manyari to assess the situation.
The NIA team was at the International Border in Hiranagar sector for about two hours, inter-acting with the BSF officers and wanting to assess the situation about gaps along the borders especially along the rivulets, which the militants had exploited in the past. Before January 2 attack at Pathankot airbase and July 27, 2015 strike at Dina Nagar police station in Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab respectively, there had been several attacks in which the militants had infiltrated from Hiranagar or Samba sectors.
“The NIA wants to ascertain similarities between the terror attacks, carried out at Hiranagar and Rajbagh police stations and Army installations by the militants after sneaking through Hiranagar and Samba sectors and Pathankot airbase attack in which the militants had entered from Bamiyal sector along river Beas in Pathankot sector,” sources said, adding that it was in this context that the NIA teams had earlier visited Samba, Hiranagar and Rajbagh police stations to inter-act with the officers, who had foiled the terror attacks and examine weapons seized from the then slain militants to know link between the attacks.
The NIA, according to sources, was also working on ‘local contacts’ theory as all the villages along the IB in Bamiyal and Hiranagar sectors were populated. With drug-trafficking rackets thriving in Punjab, the possibility of local support in Bamiyal can’t be ruled out at this stage especially when the militants had sneaked with large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives.
“There were theories that consignment of weapons might have been smuggled from the border before six attackers intruded and given to them by their local supporters,” sources said, adding the NIA teams were examining and even questioning, if required, to get clues about the militants, their links and the supporters, if any.
Though there had been no infiltration attempt from the International Border in any part of Jammu sector comprising Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts for the past about one year, there had been two successful intrusion bids by the militants from Bamiyal sector of Pathankot, the latest being this year when six attackers of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit had struck at Pathankot airbase killing seven security personnel. All six attackers were eliminated in retaliation by multiple security agencies.
The Centre had handed over investigations of the attack to the NIA.
Sources said all security agencies including para-military forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were under categorical direction that the infiltration shouldn’t be allowed at any cost. The agencies were engaged in plugging the gaps if any along the IB. The MHA has given 3000 additional BSF troops for deployment in Pathankot and Jammu sectors to step-up patrolling, plug the gaps and intensify surveillance to thwart infiltration attempts by the militants.
Sources said the NIA could submit preliminary report to the MHA on the infiltration by the militants, local support, if any, the gaps exploited by the militants, the route taken and other aspects of their infiltration to help the Centre take remedial measures.
Meanwhile, IG BSF, Jammu Frontiers, Rakesh Sharma also conducted extensive survey of the IB from Niki Tawi to Alla Mai De Kothe (AMK) Post in RS Pura sector to personally supervise the security situation and called upon the field commanders to maintain high alert.
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