CHANDIGARH: The five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of Pakistan along with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials visited the Pathankot airbase on Tuesday as part of their probe into the recent terror attack on the IAF facility. Sources said they were only shown the crime scene and sanitised areas, where the encounter occurred between the security forces and the terrorists. The entire process was videographed by two IAF personnel.
Other areas in the airbase were barricaded and made inaccessible to the visiting Pakistan officials. The team entered the airbase from a rear entrance, constructed after pulling down a wall. Their convoy stopped at ‘Upper Doaba’ canal and the members took a mini bus to travel through the dirt track next to the canal.
An official said, “The team reached the airbase at 11.35 am and left at 12.15 pm. They stayed for 40 minutes and were shown the area where the encounter took place. The team visited Kathlore bridge where Ikagar Singh, a cabbie, was stopped and gunned down by the terrorists. Besides that, they also visited the spot where the SUV of Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh was taken over by the terrorists.”
The team did not visit Bamial village from where the terrorists entered India nor did they visit the civil hospital where the remains of terrorists have been kept. The Pakistan team, led by Punjab’s additional inspector general of police, counter-terrorism department, Muhammad Tahir Rai, and NIA officials earlier landed at the Amritsar airport and were taken to Pathankot by road amid tight security.
Meanwhile, AAP and Congress workers protested at the main entrance of the airbase. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had virtually bowed down in front of Pakistan. The state unit of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray)also staged a protest outside the airbase.