PANCHKULA: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday named Jaish-e-Mohammed (J-e-M) chief Masood Azhar and his brother Rauf Asghar besides two handlers identified as Kashif Jan and Shaid Latif in the chargesheet filed here on the Pathankot airbase terror attack.
Sources said that the detailed chargesheet filed in the Special Court by the investigation agency pointed the role of the militant outfit J-e-M in spreading mayhem in the country and also referred to the plans of the outfit.
The chargesheet alleged that Rauf Asghar had hosted a video message claiming responsibility for the terror strike immediately after the Pathankot attack and glorified the role of Azhar, who was released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane IC-814 in 1999.
The chargesheet has named four terrorists who were involved in the attack and they have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Earlier, ministry of home affairs had given sanction to the NIA to file the chargesheet under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
According to sources, the chargesheet named the persons based on certain evidences which include footprints of one of the terrorists obtained from Bamiyal and matching of DNA sample found from a soft drink can in the hijacked car of suspended superintendent of police Salwinder Singh.
According to the chargesheet, four terrorists had entered India from Bamiyal area of Gurdaspur district in Punjab and had carried out the strike at the Pathankot IAF base, killing eight people, including seven IAF personnel.
The terrorists, who were killed in the attack, were identified as Nasir Hussain, Hafiz Abu Bakar, Umar Farooq and Abdul Qayum, residents of Vehari, Gujranwala in Punjab province of Pakistan and Sanghar and Sukkur in Sindh province of Pakistan, respectively.