*Case goes to NIA, Nazeer led terror group
Sanjeev Pargal
PATHANKOT, Jan 3: Twelve persons including seven security personnel of elite National Security Guards (NSG), Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) and five terrorists have been killed so far in the gunbattle inside IAF air base at Takki Chowk here, which raged for second consecutive day today with IAF saying the combing operations were still on and they couldn’t say as to how many more militants were still inside the base.
Three security personnel succumbed to their injuries sustained by them during gunfight with the militants overnight while Lt Col Niranjan E Kumar of elite NSG was killed this morning while defusing a live Improvised Explosive Device (IED) tied with body of one of the slain militants inside the air base.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the militants including four slain ultras and others, who were still holed-up inside the air base, were bearing explosive laden belts with their bodies. Slain ultras had tied belts with their abdomen and it was being anticipated that remaining militants might also be bearing the similar belts.
Of two militants, reportedly holed-up in the air base, one was gunned down tonight while another was seriously injured.
Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Pathankot air base, J S Dhamoon told crowded press conference here late this evening that security forces have neutralized four terrorists so far and, in the process, lost seven security personnel including five NSG, Army and IAF jawans. He said Lt Col Niranjan Kumar was killed this morning while a ‘Garud’ commando of the IAF had sacrificed his life yesterday. Three security personnel were killed yesterday, three others succumbed to their injuries overnight and one Lt Col died today. Three Defence Security Corps (DSC) personnel were among the seven fatal casualties suffered by the security forces.
However, Dhamoon said, no militant has been killed today so far.
“We have confirmed reports of the killing of four militants. All of them were killed yesterday,’’ Dhamoon said, adding they were not aware as to how many militants were still present inside the air base. Unconfirmed reports, however, suggested that at least two militants were still fighting inside the air base, lobbying grenades and resorting to firing on the security personnel including Special Force (para commandos) of Army, NSG, IAF and Punjab Police personnel. Sources said out of these two militants, one was killed tonight and another injured.
Refusing to take questions, Dhamoon said they will display bodies of slain militants to the media only after the entire operation was complete. He said the IAF’s all “vital assets’’ inside the air base, targeted by the militants, were safe. There is no threat to the assets, he added.
The Air Commodore said the operations were at mature stage and will continue till the air base is cleared of all the intruders or terrorists.
“The operations are at a mature stage. Operations will continue till the air base is cleared of all the militants. Presently, the operations were on,’’ he added.
Sources said the intermittent firing and explosions continued to be heard from inside the air base here during the day, which indicated that the holed-up militants, whose number could be two (though exact number of the militants hasn’t been ascertained so far), continued to lob grenades and open firing from automatic weapons aiming the direction of security personnel.
Sources in the day were sure that there were tow more militants inside the IAF campus as firing was coming from two different directions but didn’t rule out the possibility of more.
They added that there was huge number of NSG, Army, IAF and Punjab Police personnel inside and outside the air base positioned to neutralize the remaining militants.
Sources indicated that the remaining militants had secured their positions inside the air base, which was the reason that the encounter had prolonged to second day. It had started at 3.30 am yesterday with militants storming the air base.
Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has handed over investigations of Pathankot terror attack to National Investigating Agency (NIA). However, the NIA was yet to register First Information Report (FIR) in the case. The NIA team will visit the spot to start investigations only after the FIR is registered.
The NIA mandated to probe terror cases, will register a case tomorrow to probe the conspiracy of Pakistan-based terrorist group, believed to be Jaish-e-Mohammed, behind the strike at the IAF base in Pathankot.
A team of NIA was at the spot yesterday as per the standard operating procedure and today the Government decided to hand over the case to the NIA after taking concurrence from the Punjab Government, official sources said.
The mandate of the NIA probe will include entry of the militants into India, killing of a 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.
They said the investigators will also try and ascertain the conspiracy that was hatched on the Pakistani soil by the terrorists and if possible find out the state and non-state actors in that country.
As per the Standard Operating Procedure, an NIA team is rushed to the site of terror strike so that they can share their expertise as well as have first-hand information about the case, the sources said.
The NIA may also question or seek custodial interrogation of a 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, the sources said.
The Punjab Government had in July refused to hand over Dinanagar police station terror attack in Gurdaspur district attack to the NIA. The Dinanagar attack had taken place on July 27, 2015. Days later, two militants had struck at Narsu, Samroli in Udhampur district (on August 5) on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. This case was being investigated by the NIA, which was ready with the chargesheet.
Sources said the intercepts have revealed that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) team of militants, which attacked Pathankot air base was led by one Nazir. The team leader was being called by the name of Nazeer by their handlers from across the border in Pakistan.
The militants were in possession of heavy arms like AK rifles, Insas weapons, Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGLs), 52 mm mortars, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) etc, which have been recovered from their possession. This was for the first time when the militants had come with mortars and UBGLs, which indicated that their intentions were very much clear—to destroy vital assets of the IAF at the air base.
Earlier in the day, a fresh grenade blast ripped through the Air Force base here this morning claiming the life of an NSG commando, as three other security men succumbed to injuries in a hospital after yesterday’s terror attack taking the toll of security personnel to seven.
Lt Col Niranjan, a member of the NSG’s Bomb Disposal Squad, was killed while he was defusing the grenade at the site of the terror attack as part of the combing operations that continued throughout the night. Four other security men were also injured in the blast.
Sources said Niranjan, a resident of Kerala, was killed while trying to retrieve the grenade from the body of a dead terrorist.
Three members of the Defence Security Corps (DSC) succumbed to injuries in the hospital here during the night.
Four attackers, a Garud commando and three DSC were killed yesterday when heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists had attempted to storm the base, triggering a day-long gunbattle at the airbase, barely 35 kilometers from the Indo-Pak border.
Among those battling for their lives in the hospital are 8 DSC personnel and a Garud commando. They were undergoing treatment in the Military Hospital, Pathankot and condition of some of them was still critical.
The official said the operation will end only after a thorough search, going on inside the IAF base and nearby areas, was completed and remaining militants were eliminated.
Various security agencies, including the Army, Indian Air Force, Central forces and Punjab Police were involved in the joint operation.
A large cache of arms and ammunition have already been recovered during the sanitisation and search operations.
IAF helicopters were also seen flying over the base and nearby areas to assist the ground forces in the operations.
In the wee hours yesterday, the group of terrorists in Army fatigues had attempted to storm the base with the obvious intent of destroying MiG-21 fighter jets and MI-25 attack helicopters housed there.
The attackers were believed to have infiltrated from Pakistan.
The terrorists were carrying Under Barrel Grenade Launchers, 52 mm mortars, AK rifles and GPS machine.
Defence sources said the terrorists sneaked into the nearly 2000-acre air base through a forested area where they were confronted by the Quick Reaction Team of Garud commandos. They managed to go up to 400 metres but were still 700 metres away from the area where the IAF aircraft fighters were stationed.
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.
List of 7 martyrs
Corporal Gurusevak (Garud)
LNK Phoolwant
Sub Fateh Singh
Sep Sanjeev Kumar
Sep Jagdish Chand
Sep Mohit Chand
Lt Col Niranjan- NSG
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