With his role in the Pathankot airbase terror attack under the scanner, the noose is all set to tighten around Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, who was allegedly kidnapped by the terrorists, before they sneaked into the airbase.
Singh has given conflicting versions regarding his abduction by the terrorists and his whereabouts on the fateful evening.One such glaring discrepancy is his claim that he was a regular visitor to the
Panj Pir Dargah near the border, close to the place where he was allegedly abducted by the terrorists.
While Singh insists he was kidnapped just after visiting the religious place, the shrine’s keeper Som, has contradicted the SP’s claim saying
he had never seen Singh before at the dargah.
In a startling revelation made to CNN-IBN TV channel, Som claimed that Singh made a phone call to him at around 8:30 pm on December 31 asking him to keep the shrine open. When Som said it was already late and it was time to close the shrine, the SP allegedly got aggressive and ordered Som to keep it open.
Som also added that the SP’s jeweller friend Rajesh Verma visited the shrine twice on the same day and Verma also had never been to the shrine earlier.
Significantly, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) found footprints of someone wearing Epcot shoes, which is a Pakistani brand, from Bamiyal in Punjab. The area where the footprints were found is very close to this shrine that is just a few kilometers away from the India-Pakistan border.
Sources said Singh is likely to be arrested as he could have played a crucial role in the Pathankot attacks in which seven security personnel and six terrorists were killed and is suspected to have provided logistic support to the militants.
What has aroused even more suspicion is the fact that Singh went to the shrine so late in the night without his Personal Security Officer and official driver despite the fact that the area was on high alert following Intelligence reports of an impending terror attack on the airbase.
Also, it is hard to digest the SP’s claims that the fidayeen dumped him without inflicting any injury and that they failed to recognize the fact that he was an important person despite his official vehicle being fitted with a blue beacon. Nor does the claim, that the terrorists did not take his service revolver, hold water.
Another thing that is rankling officials is the fact that Singh informed Pathankot Police more than 45 minutes after he was “released” by the militants, by which time the terrorists were able to cover a distance of about 34 km and attack the Pathankot airbase.
Punjab Police DGP Suresh Arora said they are investigating why Singh’s car was not stopped at police check points.