During its ongoing deliberations with the Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the Pathankot airbase terror attack, India has asked for access to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Rauf, even as the visiting team shared evidence collected by them in that country with the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
On its part, the NIA has begun sharing “relevant” and “available” evidence relating to the probe with the JIT, including testimonies of witnesses, autopsy reports and forensic reports.
The visiting Pakistani JIT will begin recording the statements of the witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case, including Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh from Thursday.
The NIA has sought the voice samples of Maulana Masood Azhar who is accused by India of having masterminded the terror strike on the airbase and his brother besides details of Al Rehmat Trust run by the JeM.
The Pakistani JIT headed by Additional Inspector General of Police, Counter Terrorism Department, Muhammad Tahir Rai, and also including ISI’s lt Col Tanvir Ahmed, was handed over a list of 300 questions by the NIA during the day-long deliberations that took place at NIA headquarters.
Thge NIA DG Sharad Kumar said the meeting was held in a very cordial manner. On a question if the Pak authorities have arrested anybody, Kumar said, “They (Pakistan) have detained some people.”
On another question if the NIA has sought the voice samples of JeM masterminds, the DG said, “We have given our list of demands to them. What they asked for, we are in the process of handing over the documents. The witnesses will be examined tomorrow.”
A senior NIA official said the evidence shared with JIT can withstand any international judicial scrutiny. While the sharing of evidence between the two sides will continue on Thursday, future course of action with regard to the probe by both sides will be discussed on Friday.
On a question if the NIA will visit Pakistan to carry further its probe and question the JeM masterminds, NIA Insprector General Sanjeev Kumar Singh said, “The discussions between the two sides is based on principle of reciprocity. Reciprocity means that what we doing for Pak JIT, providing them things, cooperating for effective prosecution of persons, same we will also be given to us. This has been agreed to.”
Agency official said the NIA has asked for voice samples of Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf as also the voice sample of Khayyam Baber (mother of terrorist Nasir killed during the Pathankot attack).
The NIA sought access to Azhar and Rauf and told the visiting team that till the time India’s request was pending with authorities in Islamabad, it would like the Pakistani JIT to question them about their role in the attack on the Pathankot air base and hand over their statement to the Indian agency.
The Pakistani team has sought permission for recording the statements of witnesses, including Punjab police officer Salvinder Singh, his friend, cook Madan Gopal, caretaker of a shrine the officer had visited in the run up to the attack, and officers who had carried out investigations earlier and prepared the seizure memo.
The Paksitani team is scheduled to return on April 2.
The NIA has handed over to JIT statements of witnesses, including doctors who conducted the postmortem, call records of Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh and his jeweler friend Rajesh Verma, whose phones had been snatched by the terrorists and allegedly used by them to speak to their contacts in Pakistan, serial number of weapons seized, besides forensic and ballistic reports.
The NIA has identified all the four terrorists and handed over the names to the Pakistani side, asking them to confirm the investigations carried out here.
He said the Pakistani side informed the NIA team that one of the Jaish handlers Kashif Jaan, who is believed to have accompanied the terrorists up to the border, was missing ever since his name surfaced in the case. The NIA was told that the Pakistani police was looking for him.
NIA also identified another Jaish terrorist Shahid latif as one of the handlers of the terrorists and sought his thourough interrogation, Kumar said, adding information about ‘Al Rehmat Trust’ run by the terror outfit has also been sought.
Details of two websites, which carried a message of Abdul Rauf after the terror strike, were also shared with JIT, he said. Both the websites have gone off the Internet and India wants Pakistan to probe the details.
India also cited similarities between articles used by terrorists involved in Pathankot attack and those in Samba and Kathua last year like use of identical GPS and wireless sets and the modus operandi of hijacking cars before mounting the assault. The terrorists carried energy drink ‘Red bull’ (during all these attacks), had identical wire cutters and arms and ammunition of Eastern Europe, Russian and Chinese make which are available freely in the Af-Pak region.
The NIA has also given details, including the batch numbers, of food packets carried by the Pathankot terrorists. The terrorists had carefully buried the packets which had Pakistani markings and manufacturing dates of November and December 2015, the sources said.
The JIT representatives said some suspects in the case have been detained in Pakistan and they have shared the details with NIA.