Nitin Gokhale reports on how quick decisions saved a repeat of a Mumbai-like carnage at the key Punjab air force base.
'I've had a 10-and-a-half year journey behind the camera and people don't know who I am.'
The anti-terror probe agency's chief Sharad Kumar said help of Pakistan will be sought in solving the Pathankot terror attack case.
The United States has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to India. The decision was announced by President Donald Trump during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House. India is currently working on the logistics of Rana's surrender and extradition, with several final steps to be completed before he is sent back to India. The joint statement issued by India and the US during Prime Minister Modi's visit reaffirmed their commitment to fighting terrorism and eliminating terrorist safe havens. The leaders also called on Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks. Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles. He is associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.
Pakistan Today quoting a source close to the JIT, said the JIT report concluded that the Indian authorities had prior information about the attackers
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on home in its report, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, took stock of overall performance of ministry of home affairs.
'In this Spy versus Soldier game,' says Rajeev Sharma, 'the two sides will size up each other like never before.'
'The Pakistani JIT's visit is the first ever experiment by the two South Asian neighbours to probe a terror attack 'jointly.' Well, it is not unlike the scenario wherein the thief himself is made an investigator,' says Rajeev Sharma.
Hardip Singh and his wife, Kulwinder Kaur, were thrashed in an area falling under Bhaini Mian Khan police station on May 13 with a video of the incident going viral on social media.
The visiting Pakistani JIT will begin recording the statements of the witnesses in the Pathankot terror attack case from Thursday.
The joint operation of Punjab Police, the Army, the Air Force and the Himachal Pradesh Police was launched following the intelligence input.
A five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team on Tuesday applied for visa to come to India to carry forward the probe into the Pathankot terror attack, a week after the announcement by Foreign Ministers of the two countries that it will come in New Delhi on March 27.
Even as the anti-terror operations continue at the Pathankot Air Force base, the National Investigation Agency has started piecing together the puzzle over how the terrorists managed to sneak into the country and launch the brazen attack.
Senior Punjab Police officer Salwinder Singh, who is being questioned by NIA in connection with Pathankot terror attack probe, will undergo a lie detector test next week after he gave consent for it.
Chand was honoured with Kirti Chakra, the second highest peace-time decoration, for displaying great presence of mind, valour and conspicuous gallantry before making the supreme sacrifice.
'Had they struck on the night of the 1st, there would have been hell to pay and had they been able to sneak further in, we would have had a greater problem,' says Lieutenant General H S Panag (retd), the former Northern Army Commander.
A cold wave has gripped many parts of north and east India, with Srinagar recording a minimum temperature of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius. Other areas experiencing below-freezing temperatures include Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Konibal, Qazigund, Kupwara, and Kokernag in Kashmir. Himachal Pradesh has issued an orange warning for severe cold wave conditions in several districts. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5.9 degrees Celsius, while Faridkot in Punjab was the coldest in the region at 0 degrees Celsius. Extreme cold conditions also continued in parts of Rajasthan and Jharkhand. The Met office has forecast mainly dry weather until December 26, with the possibility of light snowfall in the higher reaches of Kashmir on the intervening night of December 21-22.
The NIA on Tuesday summoned the caretaker of a shrine in Punjab which a superintendent of police rank officer had claimed to have visited before being kidnapped by terrorists who attacked the Pathankot Air Force base hours later.
Continuing with his annual tradition of celebrating Diwali with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday arrived in Kargil.
Even as the NIA backtracked on its chief Sharad Kumar's statement, on its part Islamabad, touted his remarks to claim 'vindication' of its long standing position in this regard.
A day after National Security Guard Lt Col Niranjan Kumar and Garud Commando Gursewak Singh were slain in the Pathankot air base attack, their remains were brought home for the last rites. Locals, family members and politicians gathered to pay their respects to these heroes.
'Jihadi outfits backed by the ISI are now prepared to attack targets not just in J&K, but also in Punjab. This signals an escalation in the range and scope of cross-border terrorism, which cannot be ignored,' says Ambassador G Parthasarthy, former high commissioner to Pakistan.
Niranjan's lungs got punctured due to the impact of the blast of a grenade that was kept in the pocket of a slain terrorist and the officer died before being taken to hospital.
Perimeter security will be strengthened at army bases under six commands, the sources said.
Police personnel checked vehicles and conducted flag marches at various places in Punjab on Wednesday while central forces maintained a tight vigil in Tripura.
The ministry may now ask the channel NDTV India to be taken off air for a day on November 9, according to sources, in what would be the first order against a broadcaster over its coverage of terrorist attacks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the strategic Pathankot Air Force base for a first-hand assessment of the situation in the aftermath of the terror attack last Saturday.
The NIA on Monday registered a case to probe the conspiracy of Pakistan-based terrorist group, believed to be Jaish-e-Mohammed, behind the strike at the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot in Punjab.
'ISI-backed jihadi groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayiba are now prepared to cross the International Border and attack targets in Punjab at will,' says Ambassador G Parthasarathy, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan.
Saeed, the leader of the Jaamat-ud-Dawah, also called for more violence against India.
The operation to fully sanitise the Pathankot base, which was attacked by six terrorists last Saturday, is in its final phase.
Parrikar refused to share further details about the attack, saying the NIA is already investigating the matter.
The bodies of four terrorists, killed in the Pathankot terror attack four months ago, were buried on Wednesday at an undisclosed location in the garrison city.
'The sky is the limit for what all could be done at an air base to neutralise terrorists. Good proactive local leadership and delegated operational effort would be key to ensuring that a handful of terrorists cannot hold a whole air base, and by extension, the whole nation to ransom,' says Group Captain P I Muralidharan (retd).
Speaking in the Security Council briefing on 'Threat to International Peace & Security Caused by Terrorist Acts' on Wednesday, Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti reiterated India's firm belief that terrorism in one part of the world is threat to peace and security of entire world.
'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.'
Subedar Fateh Singh, a 51-year-old Army man who lost his life during combing operations at the Indian Air Force base near Punjab's Pathankot town on Saturday, had won a gold and a silver medal at the first Commonwealth Shooting Championships held in Delhi in 1995.
The Union Home minister on Saturday visited the Pathankot airbase, which was attacked by the terrorists on January 2.
Punjab Police conducted search operation jointly with Himachal Pradesh Police in the hilly areas located in Bhadroya which is in Himachal Pradesh and covered almost 5-6 km of forest area in search operation.
India will decide on going ahead with the foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan only after operations to flush out terrorists from the IAF base at Pathankot is over.
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