New Delhi

A route often used by drug smugglers was apparently followed by terrorists to infiltrate into the border state of Punjab and unleash the deadly attack on an IAF base in Pathankot.

As the initial inputs suggest, the terrorists, who carried out the pre-dawn attack yesterday, had infiltrated through tributaries of river Beas in Pathankot in Bamiyal village, located close to the International Border.

They are believed to have infiltrated into India during the intervening night of December 30-31.

The terrorists, according to official sources, crossed over near Shakargarh in Pakistan to Bamiyal village and later changed into Army fatigues before seizing a private taxi.

The taxi driver, according to information, was changing his tyres when the terrorists kidnapped him and took his vehicle for a distance before they killed him after his car again broke down.

They later kidnapped Salwinder Singh, a Superintendent of Police-rank officer, who was shunted out from Gurdaspur to take charge as Assistant Commandant of 75th battalion of Punjab Armed Police, at Kolian village.

There were three occupants in the vehicle when it was hijacked by five militants which included Singh’s jeweller friend Rajesh Verma and the driver.

While the terrorists slit the throat of other two, the police officer, who is facing charges of alleged breach of discipline, was released later and the vehicle was abandoned at Tajpur village, a place which is 2 km from the IAF’s Pathankot air base.

The area from where the terrorists crossed over has a thick foliage of elephant grass which provides an automatic cover for them, they said.

A tributary of river Beas enters into Pakistan from this village and this route is popular with drug smugglers to enter India. PTI

Increase BSF strength at Punjab border as in J&K: Badal
Pathankot

As Punjab faced second terror strike within six months, its Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today sought deployment of more BSF troops along the border with Pakistan and said the state police will set up a “second line of defence” to prevent such attacks in future.

“We are writing to Government of India that BSF deployment should be increased on par with that of J&K.

“The BSF deployment should be increased at least in this area (Gurdaspur and Pathankot) because this is second or third time such an incident has occurred,” Badal told reporters here.

He said the state police will come out with a “master plan” for second line of defence.

Badal, who held a review meeting with senior police officials in the wake of the terror attack in Pathankot, also said that he has directed the police authorities to get “mapping done of all vulnerable points along the border”.

“If some terrorists manage to sneak from the border into our territory, so we should look at how we can act as a second line of defence.

“I want technology to be used. We will see how we will act as second line of defence, we will have to use CCTVs, laser technology, ground detection system which are internationally-used across borders, specially this area, Gurdaspur and Pathankot… it needs to be done,” he said.

Badal said that he will ask Punjab Police DGP to get in touch with all the experts.

“We have to act as second line of defence. Immediately, we will have new police lines established in Pathankot, one commando batallion will also be set up here so that there is quick response (in the wake of major attacks).

“A special SWAT team will be stationed in Pathankot district so that there is quick response if any eventuality happens in the future so that we can take quick action,” the Deputy CM said.

Asked if there was any security lapse and how the terrorists managed to sneak in, he said “investigations have not yet started as operation is still going on”.

“We have our own views, we were convinced on certain views. Question is not Punjab border or Jammu and Kashmir border (from where terrorists sneak in).

Replying to questions, Sukhbir Badal said,”deployment of BSF in the Punjab section of border is not that much…they (Centre) should consider this area also sensitive now.

“Since this incident has happened, this area (Pathankot) touches J&K.”

“What I am saying is our police will come out with a master plan for a second line of defence, because first line of defence is going to be the BSF.

“Since this incident has happened in our territory, so we will take our own initiative to come up with a second line of defence,” he continued.

Asked about the counter operation against terrorists, Badal said, “I cannot give you details of operation as it is still going on. It is not right for me to disclose anything.

“Once it is over, complete briefing will take place.”

Asked about the kidnapping of a SP by terrorists, Badal said the SP, who was under transfer, had gone to Narot Jaimal block to pay obeisance.

“Had they not caught the SP, may be the situation would have been worse,” he said.

Asked about the delay in acting on intelligence about presence of Pakistani militants, Sukhbir Badal said, “Immediately, we informed the Government of India, the local police immediately informed GOI.

“We immediately launched operation also at our end.”

He further said, “I want to ask one thing, our police knows what it is doing. We don’t need to feed police how they have to do their job because certain things cannot be disclosed, we cannot tell you what operation we did and how we did.

“It is not for the media to know. What we are saying is that because we were able to inform the GOI immediately the NSG was called. Within 7-8 hours, we requistioned number of forces to tackle them.”

To another question, Badal said, “We are fighting a war against terrorism, we should all unite. This terrorism has to be stopped.

“As Home Minister of my state, I have decided to create second line of defence so that my citizens are protected.” PTI

2nd line of defence in Pathankot to be set up: Sukhbir Badal
Pathankot

Punjab, which faced two terror attacks in six months, today announced deployment of a commando battalion and a special SWAT team in Pathankot as a “second line of defence” and also sought deployment of more BSF troops along the state’s border with Pakistan.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal while making the announcement, a day after the terror attack on the IAF base in Pathankot, said the state government was writing to Government of India that BSF deployment should be increased on par with the neighbouring state of Jammu and Kashmir.

“We have to act as second line of defence. Immediately, we will have new police lines established in Pathankot, one commando batallion will also be set up here so that there is quick response (in the wake of major attacks).

“A special SWAT team will be stationed in Pathankot district so that there is quick response if any eventuality happens in the future so that we can take quick action,” Badal told reporters.

“The BSF deployment should be increased at least in this area (Gurdaspur and Pathankot) because this is second or third time such an incident has occurred,” Badal said.

He said the state police will come out with a “master plan” for second line of defence.

Badal, who held a review meeting with senior police officials after the Pathankot attack, also said that he has directed the police authorities to get “mapping done of all vulnerable points along the border”.

“If some terrorists manage to sneak from the border into our territory, so we should look at how we can act as a second line of defence.

“I want technology to be used. We will see how we will act as second line of defence, we will have to use CCTVs, laser technology, ground detection system which are internationally-used across borders, specially this area, Gurdaspur and Pathankot… it needs to be done,” he said.

Badal said that he will ask Punjab Police DGP to get in touch with all the experts.

Asked if there was any security lapse and how the terrorists managed to sneak in, he said “investigations have not yet started as operation is still going on”.

“We have our own views, we were convinced on certain views. Question is not Punjab border or Jammu and Kashmir border (from where terrorists sneak in).PTI

Probe launched into ’24 hours’ of terrorists’ presence before Pathankot attack
By Jaideep Sarin
Pathankot

Security agencies in Punjab are investigating the movement of terrorists 24 hours before they launched a pre-dawn Fidayeen attack on the IAF base near here on Saturday, especially in context of the resources they may have used to reach the high-security target after sneaking into India from the border with Pakistan.

The security and investigation agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), are trying to reconstruct events from the night of Dec 30-31 to the terror attack on the Indian Air Force (IAF) base around 3.30 a.m. on Saturday.

They want to know how the suspected Pakistani terrorists, numbering five, could easily make it to the frontier IAF base despite intelligence inputs that they were going to target a high profile defence target in the area.

“The first report about the terrorists being in the area came early on Friday (Jan 1). For nearly 30 hours, they remained inside Indian territory. For 24 hours before the IAF air base attack, information on the terrorists was available after the senior police officer and two others were abducted in his car. The vehicle, with a blue beacon, was used to pass through security barricades from the border belt up to Pathankot,” a senior Punjab Police officer told IANS.

The lapses on the part of the Border Security Force (BSF) in preventing infiltration from Pakistan in the Bamiyal sector, adjoining Gurdaspur (Punjab) and Kathua (Jammu and Kashmir) districts, and the Punjab Police, which looks after security of areas near the border belt, are now being investigated at the highest level, top police sources said.

Investigating officers said the terrorists killed a taxi driver and injured the friend of the police officer by slitting their throats with sharp-edged weapons and deliberately did not use the AK-47 and other weaponry they had to ensure that their identity was not revealed before the terror attack and the incidents looked like “normal crime”.

The terrorists, who are believed to have entered India through the Ravi river along the barbed wire fenced international border, about 35 km from here, on Dec 30-31 night are suspected to have booked an Toyota Innova multi-utility vehicle (PB 06-G-0061) in the border belt through a call made from a Pakistani number.

“Smugglers on both sides of the border may be using local support for their activities. The same may have been used by the terrorists,” said the police officer.

The Innova driver, Ikagar Singh, 30, of Bhagwal village near the border, could have picked up a fight with the terrorists after they got into his car, according to the police.

Tell-tale signs of the Innova hitting a tree near Kolia village on the Bamiyal-Pathankot road and getting badly damaged and the blood spattered in nearby agricultural fields indicated the move of the taxi driver to stop the terrorists from proceeding further and he being killed in cold blood by the terrorists.

Since two tyres of the Innova got burst in this process, the terrorists waited on the road for some other vehicle to pass by which they could stop.

At this point, the Mahindra XUV of Punjab Police Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, who was coming back after offering prayers at a nearby shrine, came near where the terrorists were stranded. The terrorists, who were in army fatigues, signalled the car to stop.

As it did, the terrorists forcibly entered it and hijacked it. They hit the officer and his companions with weapon butts and drove towards Pathankot. Since the car had a blue beacon, it was not stopped by security personnel at the Punjab Police picket at Kathlaur bridge on Ravi river or any other barricades ahead.

While the officer was dumped after some distance, they slit the throat of his friend, Rajesh Verma, and left him for dead near Akalgarh village, close to the IAF base. The terrorists abandoned the XUV near Akalgarh village.

“From the time they abandoned the vehicle to the time of the attack, there was a gap of nearly 24 hours. The terrorists must have been hiding somewhere. If they were out in the open, someone may have spotted them. This needs to be investigated,” the senior police officer said.

During this time, the terrorists took away the mobile phone of the officer and made calls to their handlers in Pakistan. One terrorist even called his mother in Bahawalpur in Pakistan.

Despite the area being on high alert, the terrorists walked up to the rear wall of the IAF base and launched the attack around 3.30 a.m. by firing on Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel and entered one portion of the base.

However, the terrorists faced stiff counter offensive from National Security Guards (NSG) commandos, IAF commandos and the army’s Special Forces. After a gun-battle of over 15 hours, security forces neutralized four terrorists on Saturday. A gunfight started again on Sunday morning during search and combing operations after it was found that one to two terrorists could still be holed up inside the base. (Jaideep Sarin can be reached on [email protected])

Terrorists may have entered IAF campus on January 1 afternoon
New Delhi

The terrorists who struck at IAF base in Pathankot yesterday and who are believed to be from Pakistan-based JeM terror outfit may have stationed themselves within the complex since January one itself apparently unnoticed.

The terrorists, who sneaked into India on December 30 and 31 and made their way to Pathankot air base using the vehicle of a Punjab Police Superintendent of Police rank officer, are now believed to have entered the IAF campus on the afternoon of January one.

The attackers had hijacked the private vehicle carrying the Gurdaspur SP, his friend Rajesh Verma and the SP’s orderly.

As the security agencies probed the sequence of events that led to the unsuccessful attack to target fighters and helicopters, it has emerged that the terrorists had “comfortably housed” themselves within the IAF campus during the day time, sources privy to the probe said today.

The cell tower for all the calls made by the terrorists from the mobile phone of Verma, a jeweller and a friend of the police officer whose vehicle was hijacked in the afternoon of January one and barely hours before launching the attack, were same, the sources said.

The calls made from the phone of Verma were routed through the same mobile phone tower throughout January one and the intervening night before the attack was launched, the sources said.

The terrorists, after breaching the security of the IAF base, had apparently hid themselves in the thick forest area of the campus which has an area of around 1800 to 2000 acres.

Officials termed it as a “serious security breach” which will be investigated only after the operation inside the campus is over and an all clear signal was received from the IAF authorities.

The IAF authorities have been asked to preserve the register of sentry duties of January one and a through questioning is expected once the operation is over, the sources said.