Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 28: The National Investigating Agency (NIA) has decided that it would give access to visiting Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of Pakistan to civilian witnesses for examination (by the JIT) when the team visits Pathankot tomorrow morning but won’t allow them to quiz any defence witnesses, who were involved in three-day long operation, beginning January 2 this year.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the NIA under instructions from the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as taking into account the concerns raised by the Defence Ministry, has decided that it would allow only civilian witnesses to be questioned by the Pakistani team at Pathankot tomorrow.
“Even if the Pakistani JIT, which comprised top officials of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Military Intelligence (MI), asks for questioning of defence witnesses, it’s request would be turned down,’’ sources said, adding the defence witnesses can be questioned only by the NIA, which has been assigned investigations into the case.
Sources added that the decision not allow the Pakistani JIT to question the defence witnesses has been taken at the highest level of Defence and Home Ministries.
It may be mentioned that some personnel of National Security Guards (NSG) and Border Security Force (BSF) were witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case.
The civilian witnesses to whom Pakistani JIT would be allowed access for questioning included Punjab Police Superin-tendent of Police Salwinder Singh, his jeweller friend Rajesh Verma, cook Madan Gopal and 17 persons, who were injured in the terror attack.
The sources said that cooperation to the Pakistani team would be based on the principle of reciprocity hoping that an Indian team would be allowed to travel to Pakistan at a later date.
In the 26/11 Mumbai attack case, Pakistan had sent a Judicial Commission to cross-examine some of the witnesses in the case.
Earlier in the morning, India and Pakistan started discussions on investigations into the terror attack, making it the first-ever visit of a JIT from the neighbouring country that included an ISI official.
The five-member Pakistani JIT is headed by Chief of Punjab’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Muhammad Tahir Rai and comprises Lahore’s Deputy Director General, Intelligence Bureau, Mohammad Azim Arshad, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Lt Col Tanvir Ahmed, Military Intelligence official Lt Col Irfan Mirza and Gujranwala CTD Investigating Officer, Shahid Tanveer.
The team was received at the headquarters of National Investigation Agency by Inspector General Sanjiv Kumar Singh.
Sources said the NIA IG will also accompany the Pakistani JIT to Pathankot tomorrow, where the team would visit airbase, where six militants had struck on January 2, leading to three-day long operation in which seven security personnel were killed. The team would be confined to operation area only as the Indian Air Force has already curtained its all strategic and vital assets to ensure that they were not exposed to the Pakistani team.
According to sources, the Pakistani JIT would also be taken to the International Border (IB) in Bamial sector of Pathankot from where the militants had infiltrated into the Indian territory.
Several other leads, which the NIA has gathered pertaining to Pakistan origin of all the militants and Pakistan involvement in the case, will be given or shown to the JIT, sources said, adding the JIT would be allowed to examine bodies of four slain militants, which have been kept in the Civil Hospital, Pathankot.
In the day, Pakistan JIT members were given a detailed presentation on the probe done by Indian agencies so far and evidences that show that the attack was planned in Pakistan, sources said.
The Pakistani team raised several questions before the NIA pertaining to the investigations, which were cleared to them.
PTI adds from New Delhi:
During the day long discussions, the NIA shared some phone numbers, persons involved which includes Rauf, brother of Jaish chief Masood Azhar and companies who had supplied the packed food to the terrorists.
NIA also cited similarities between the Pathankot attack with those in Samba and Kathua last year like using same GPS and wireless sets, the modus operandi of hijacking cars, energy drink ‘Red bull’ (common in all attacks), identical wire cutters and arms and ammunition of Eastern Europe, Russian and Chinese make which are available in the Af-Pak region.
It had released photographs of the four terrorists killed during the operation with description of their height.
India also gave its reasoning of naming people connected with Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group which included Mullah Dadullah and Kashif Jaan. Their phone numbers were shared and they belong to the Pakistani telecom operators like Mobilink, Warid and Telenor.
Kashif Jaan, one of the key handlers of the attackers, had accompanied the terrorists till the border, the sources said.
A presentation pertaining to the case which included recoveries made by the NIA team and a possible modus operandi was shown to the Pakistani side after they were received at the headquarters by Inspector General Sanjiv Kumar Singh.
They are being given a detailed presentation on the probe done by Indian agencies so far and evidences that show that the attack was planned in Pakistan, the sources said.
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