Info from Pakistan helped NIA identify Pathankot attackers

New Delhi, Apr 8: Information received from anonymous individuals in Pakistan, after photos of the slain Pathankot terrorists were put up on the National Investigation Agency (NIA) website, was crucial in identifying four Pakistan terrorists who stormed the airbase, a senior government official said.

The NIA had published the photographs of the deceased terrorists on its website last month, inviting information from public. Officials said they received a number of anonymous messages from foreign countries, including Pakistan, which helped them get additional information about the identity of the four terrorists killed at the Pathankot airbase on January 2.

“Based on phone intercepts and technical intelligence, we had some information about the identity of the four men. After we published their photographs on our website, we got information which helped us collect more personal details of these men. When we presented the details before the Joint Investigation Team [JIT], they were also convinced,” said a senior government official.

The NIA has identified the terrorists as Hafiz Abu Bakar, resident of Gujranwala (Punjab), Umar Farooq of Sanghar (Sindh), Nasir Hussain, resident of Vehari (Punjab), and Abdul Qayum of Sukkur (Sindh) in Pakistan.

The NIA had handed over the DNA samples of the four to the JIT and had asked them to track the family members and match it with them.

The official also said Pakistan had agreed ahead of the JIT’s visit to India that it would not get access to any of the defence personnel involved in the operation at the Pathankot airbase attack.

“The Terms of Reference of the visit sent to Pakistan ahead of the JIT’s visit clearly mentioned that they would not get access to any defence personnel involved in Pathankot operation,” the official said.

According to the Terms of Reference for the recent visit of the JIT, it was to interview key witnesses and victims of Pathankot terror attack but there was no mention of access to military or any other security personnel.

Pakistan had on Wednesday said India did not produce witnesses belonging to the security forces before the JIT.

“The JIT visited the crime scene and also recorded the statements of some witnesses. However, the witnesses belonging to the Indian security forces were not produced before it,” said the Pakistan Foreign Office, in its first statement on the team’s return from India.

The Terms of Reference say the JIT would collect, review and document physical evidence regarding the Pathankot incident, collect pieces of forensic evidence for possible matching with specimens of relevant individuals in Pakistan. The team would collect, collate, analyse and document electronic/ digital evidence, visit crime scene and other relevant places related to Pathankot investigation, it says.