Nailing Pakistan's role in the Pathankot airbase attack on January 2, 2016, the National Investigation Agency(NIA) on Monday filed a chargesheet against four accused, all of whom hailed from Pakistan. The accused are Maulana Masood Azhar (code-named A-1), chief of the terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan; Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar (A-2), deputy chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad and brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, also a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan; Shahid Latif (A-3), launching commander, resident of Gujranwala in Pakistan and Kashif Jan (A-4), main handler of Pathankot attackers and a resident of Charsada in Pakistan.
They have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, Arms Act 1959, Explosive Substances Act 1908 and section 4 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. All the accused are absconding and a Red Corner Notice (RCN) has been issued by the Interpol for the arrest of the three accused A-1, A-2 and A-3, whereas the issue of RCN against A-4 is in process.
The chargesheet says that similar offences were established against the terrorists who stormed the airbase in Pathankot, belonging to the JeM, namely Nasir Hussain(D-1), resident of Vehari in Pakistan, Hafiz Abu Bakar (D-2), resident of Gujranwala in Pakistan, Umar Farooq(D-3), resident of Sanghar in Pakistan and Abdul Qayum(D-4), resident of Sukkur in Pakistan. Since they were dead, prosecution against these attackers were discontinued.
The NIA chargesheet, accessed by THE WEEK, says that the terrorists (all Pakistani nationals, belonging to the proscribed terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad) entered into a criminal conspiracy to infiltrate into Indian territory and commit terror attacks and wage war against the Government of India. The NIA found in its probe that the accused persons and co-conspirators had ''set up training camps in Pakistan and the PoK area, for recruitment and training of terrorists, in order to carry out terror attacks on the Indian soil. During the training, these terrorists were made to undergo extensive motivational, physical, military and tactical training regimen, to radicalize them and to prepare them for Jihad.''
The NIA says that the four terrorists who entered the airbase were "trained in terrorist tradecraft and carried sophisticated arms, ammunition and other logistical items" when they "illegally crossed the Indo-Pak international border through the forest area near the Simbal border outpost on December 30, 2015''. During investigation, empty food packets manufactured in Pakistan and other food articles were recovered from the forest area near the Simbal border outpost.
The NIA has given a clean chit to Punjab superintendent of police Salvinder Singh whose Mahindra XUV vehicle was hijacked by the terrorists, later used by them to move towards the air force station in Pathankot. After hijacking his vehicle, the terrorists tied, blindfolded and dumped Salvinder Singh and his cook Madan Gopal, at an abandoned place in a forest area. However, they took the third occupant Rajesh Verma along with them.
“The dumped victims managed to untie themselves and rushed to the nearby village, Gulpur Simli, on foot. The terrorists, on learning later from Rajesh Verma that Salvinder Singh was a police officer, informed their handler, who directed them to go back and look for him. Since Salvinder Singh and Madan Gopal had already left the spot, the terrorists resumed their journey to the Air Force Station,” says the chargesheet.
Tracing the terrorirsts route, the NIA chargesheet explains that after infiltrating into the Indian side, the terrorists reached the road from Bhagwal village to Janial. On December 31, they hijacked an Innova taxi bearing registration number PB06-G-0061, along with the driver, Ikagar Singh, who was going from village Bhagwal to Janial. The terrorists snatched the mobile phone of Ikagar Singh and used the same to communicate with their handler, Kashif Jan (A-4), and senior leaders of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan, on three Pakistan mobile numbers 923453030479, 923213132786 and 923017775253.
However, their vehicle met with an accident at the Dhusi turn near the Ravi River Bridge. The terrorists brutally killed Ikagar Singh and dumped his dead body in the nearby bushes. Thereafter, the terrorists drove the damaged Innova vehicle and abandoned it at a service station at Kolian Morh in Pathankot district.
During investigation, the DNA profiles recovered from the dagger, seized from the possession of one of the dead terrorists, matched with that of Ikagar Singh. Similarly, DNA profiles of two terrorists were found on the Red Bull (energy drink) can, recovered from the vehicle of Ikagar Singh.
After abandoning the damaged Innova vehicle of Ikagar Singh at Kolian Morh, the terrorists hid in the nearby sugarcane fields and waited for a vehicle to come. It is here when Salvinder Singh's vehicle came and was hijacked .
Investigations revealed that after abandoning the Mahindra XUV vehicle, the terrorists moved to the western side of the Air Force Station on foot. The terrorists forced their entry into the Air Force Station, Pathankot, after cutting the wire fencing over the western side of the perimeter wall. They crossed it and entered the airbase on January 1, early in the morning.
As per the forensic analysis report, the marks of the cutting tool recovered from the terrorists matched with the marks on the cut portion of the fencing wire. Also the climbing rope used by them and recovered from the perimeter wall, matched with the rope recovered from the Mahindra XUV vehicle.
A glove and a woolen cap, similar to those recovered from the terrorists, were recovered entangled in the wire fencing over the perimeter wall. Further there were marks of someone having climbed over a eucalyptus tree just outside the perimeter wall panel.
After getting inside the Air Force Station, the terrorists hid themselves inside the ‘nallah’ and the dilapidated MES store sheds till the time they launched the assault. As per the forensic report, the shoe prints lifted from the ‘nallah’ matched with the shoes of a terrorist.
Further, the NIA chargesheet explains the modus operandi of the terrorists saying they ''specifically targeted fuel tanks of the vehicles parked in the Motor Transport Section setting them on fire, causing severe damage to the vehicles and the buildings, so as to cause panic.'' During the operation carried out by the security forces including the NSG and Army, to flush out the terrorists, seven persons were martyred and 37 persons were injured.
