Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Sunday said the presence of two more terrorists was noted by the forces in cordoned area of the Pathankot airbase on Sunday morning when combing and mopping operations were going on.
Addressing joint Press conference with Indian Air Force’s DG (Air Operations) Air Marshal Anil Khosla, the Home Secretary confirmed that there were total seven persons from the forces lost their life during operations in two days.
“We are sure that still there are at least two more terrorists as firing have come from two different places. But we are not sure whether there are some more. We will come to know the number of terrorists only after the completion of the operation and body count,” Mehrishi said.
Reacting to volley of questions, Mehrishi said that as the operations were still going on he would not answer to the queries seeking details of operations. “I can only clarify about the statements we have made. We can give you exact details after the end of the operation,” he said.
To questions whether the operations was declared as ‘ended” on Saturday, Air Marshal Khosla said this was not done. “We slowed down the operations by 9 pm and cordoned off the area assuring none can escape. In the morning, we started mopping and combing operations to search the body of four neutralised terrorists. Then two terrorists opened fire from two separate areas and we started engaging them. They are cordoned off ,” said Khosla, explaining the operations.
On being asked about Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other Minister’s tweeted on Saturday, giving impression that the operations had successfully ended, Mehrishi shot back : “I am giving you authentic information. No point on talking about it now”
Mehrishi said Salvinder Singh, Superintendent of Police of Punjab, who was kidnapped along with two others on Friday and was left off later, had said that there were only four terrorists. Asked whether there is any lapse while dealing with the terrorists as seven security personnel were killed so far despite having prior information about terrorists, Mehrishi denied there was any lapse.
“There was no lapse. Some casualties are obvious when there is an operation in this scale,” he said. Mehrishi said so far there were seven casualties — six Indian Air Force personnel (including five Defence Security Corps(DSC) personnel and one Garuda commando), and one NSG officer, lt. Colonel Niranjan.
Eight IAF personnel and 12 NSG commandos were also injured so far. The NSG officer was killed while trying to defuse a grenade attached with the body of a terrorist. Five NSG commandos were also injured in the incident. Seven other NSG commandos were also injured in separate incidents in mopping up operation.
Asked when the operation against the terrorist would be over, the IAF Air Marshal said they were not sure about that as the action against the militants was still on. “No way I can predict. But we are hopeful that it will come to an end this evening,” he said.
Air Marshal Khosla said the main aim of the terrorists was defeated as they could not reach the technical area of the Pathnkot air base where high valued assets were kept. “The first contact with the terrorists was made on Saturday morning at around 3.30 am. The terrorists were contained in an area where there is heavy growth and shrubs. The operation is now at a matured stage,” he said.
Asked about the terror group which could be behind the attack, the Home Secretary said as per initial information it was Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) but it would be confirmed only after the operation is over. Mehrishi said there were intelligence reports about infiltration attempts by JeM and lashkar-e-Taiba militants and based on these inputs, 40 terrorists were neutralised by security forces since August 2015.
He said after getting information about the terrorists, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called an emergency meeting on Friday, which was attended by Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag besides others, to take stock of the situation and necessary instructions were given to secure government offices and vital installations along the western border. Alert was sounded in Punjab and all air stations in the area were put on high alert, he said.
The Home Secretary said AOC-in-C Western Air Command, Air Marshal S B Deo is in Pathankot and coordinating the operation, which is jointly being carried out by IAF, Army, NSG and Punjab Police. He said the terrorists were located through aerial surveillance and then counter attack was launched. Mehrishi said one grievously injured DSC personnel was airlifted to Chandigarh for further treatment.