India seeks US' help in identifying seized NVD

India has approached the US to help identify the Night Vision Device (NVD) used by the three terrorists involved in the Gurdaspur terror attack late last month.  Besides the NVD, the Government has also sent a request seeking details of Global Positioning System (GPS), used by terrorists in reaching the police station at Dina Nagar where they were engaged by the Punjab Police and subsequently neutralised. The manufacturer of the device is based in the US, official sources said here on Monday. 

The NVD bears the markings of the US Government  and was recovered from the terrorists. It was used as a telescope with the assault rifle to help them in identifying the target in dead of the night.Informally, the FBI has assured Indian investigators that all assistance will be provided in probing the incident and even indicated that the NVD could have been snatched from allied troops fighting war in Afghanistan, the sources said.

For a closer cooperation on terror-related matters, India and the US have appointed personnel from their respective security agencies as part of the diplomatic staff at each other’s embassies.The Indian investigators also sought details about the coordinates of GPS that was seized from the terrorists. It could help the probe agency to find out where the GPS was used initially or the country to where it was exported.

The GPS is generally used by travellers on trekking or Army personnel in unfamiliar terrain. It connects an user to a satellite and helps the traveller know the way to the destination.Three terrorists had sneaked in from the Ravi river at the Punjab border on intervening night of July 26 and 27 and attacked a police station in Dina Nagar. Seven people including a Superintendent of Police were killed by the terrorists before they were neutralised by Punjab Police.