It was the constant use of former Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh’s cellphone snatched by the JeM terrorists to contact their handlers and family in Pakistan that revealed the terror plot and alerted the security establishment with NSA Ajit Doval himself involved in the thick of the counter-measures’ preparedness. Based on those very intelligence inputs, IAF’s air surveillance systems later picked up the movements of the terrorists once they entered the Pathankot Air Force Station.
The terrorists had snatched the cellphone from the top cop after overpowering him on Friday, when they took away his car. Singh was recently transferred as Assistant Commandant, 75th Battalion, Punjab Armed Police (PAP).
Sources said the terrorists used the cop’s phone to be in regular touch with their Pakistani handlers, who constantly issued directions to them. The handlers even arranged a taxi for them by calling from a mobile number of that country. Incidentally, it was the same number which the terrorists had been dialing from the SP’s phone.
One of the terrorists also called up his mother from the cop’s phone to inform her that he was out on a suicide mission, they said.
In fact, the terrorists had even received the call made by driver of the former Gurdaspur SP and greeted him with ‘Salam Alaikuum’. When the driver asked who was on the other side, the receiver asked him the same question and when told it was the SP’s number, he disconnected it.
Following the intercepts by the Intelligence agencies coupled with the fact that the former Gurdaspur SP too had alerted about his experience to his seniors, the NSA held an urgent meeting with senior officials late on Friday. About 160 NSG commandos, Special Forces of the Indian Army and additional soldiers were subsequently moved to strengthen defences of the base even as an alert was sounded.
The terrorists had first used a Toyota Innova vehicle on Friday. It was found that the driver was called from the Pakistan number.
Security agencies are questioning the driver and trying to find out whether he (driver) had been offering regular services to Pakistan-based smugglers, who have links with the terrorists, or was it a case of him not realising that it was a Pakistan number.
The driver of the Innova was called to a particular spot near Pathankot where the terrorists boarded the vehicle. The car was used for travelling on a kuchcha road and dumped after a while as the rim of the vehicle got damaged.
The terrorists then hijacked an SUV (Mahindra SUV X500) in which the former Gurdaspur SP was travelling along with a friend and a cook. The SP and the cook were forced to leave the vehicle while the friend, a jeweller, was taken hostage and dumped later on.
For its part, the IAF in a statement said, “Intelligence inputs had been available of a likely attempt by terrorists to infiltrate into the military installation in Pathankot area. In response, preparatory actions had been taken by the IAF to thwart any such attempt.
“Due to the effective preparation and coordinated efforts by all the security agencies, a group of terrorists were detected by the aerial surveillance platforms as soon as they entered the Air Force Station at Pathankot. The infiltrators were immediately engaged and contained within a limited area, thus preventing them from entering the Technical zone where high value assets are parked,” the statement said.
The Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command is on location and personally supervising and coordinating with the Army, NSG and local civil police for exchange of information and operational activity, it added.