Close X
Saturday, September 21, 2024
ADVT 
India

Pakistani Probe Team 'Already' In India

Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 Feb, 2016 11:52 AM
    The Pakistani probe team has already arrived in India to probe the Pathankot airbase attack in Punjab, an official said.
     
    Punjab counter-terrorism department chief Muhammad Tahir Rai, who heads the high-powered Joint Investigation Team (JIT), has reached India along with some other officials, The Nation quoted a senior official as saying on Thursday.
     
    A JIT formed on the orders of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formally started working last week, and its first meeting was convened in Lahore to discuss the case in detail, the report said.
     
    The Punjab province home department on Thursday also re-notified the JIT, ordering the investigators to submit the interim probe report to the court within two weeks.
     
    It was not clear if there was any change or the new notification retained the same members as that of the earlier JIT, which was constituted by the interior ministry in mid-January.
     
    A provincial government official confirmed that Tahir Rai, who is additional inspector general of police, has arrived in India and this move is being kept secret on both sides of the border.
     
    "What I can confirm is that Rai is in India right now. We can't tell how many officials accompany him," the official said on the request of anonymity.
     
    The official did not comment on the day the team left for India to probe the attack and for how many days it would be there.
     
    Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), a Pakistani militant outfit, was responsible for the attack on the airbase in Pathankot town on January 2.
     
    As many as seven security personnel were killed in the attack. The security forces also killed all six terrorists in over three days' operation.
     
    New Delhi said the fate of 'comprehensive dialogue process' -- started by both the countries recently to improve India-Pakistan ties -- depended on Islamabad's action against the perpetrators of the attack.
     
    Pakistan registered a case on the basis of leads provided by India and formed an investigation team comprising high-ranking officials of police and intelligence agencies.
     
    The counter-terrorism department (CTD) of Pakistan's Punjab province on Thursday lodged a case against six "non-state actors" for plotting the attack.
     
    Official sources in the Punjab home department said the JIT members during their visit to India would collect facts about the Pathankot attack.
     
    However, no information was provided weather the investigators was allowed to visit the Indian airbase as earlier New Delhi denied the team access to the airbase.
     
    One official said the team would also discuss modalities for carrying out joint investigations with their Indian counterparts.
     
    "Although no timeframe has been given to complete the probe, it is expected that the team will complete the investigations within 15 days," another official said.
     
    "If the probe remains incomplete after two weeks, the JIT may seek more time from the court since it is a matter of criminal procedure code."
     
    Earlier, four suspects were detained in connection with the phone numbers mentioned in the first information report.
     
    The investigators were examining the SIM registration and call data of the numbers. The mobile phone companies were asked to provide details of the persons using those phone numbers.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Nitish Announces Liquor Ban In Bihar From April 1

    Nitish Announces Liquor Ban In Bihar From April 1
    Bihar will go dry from April 1, 2016, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced on Thursday.

    Nitish Announces Liquor Ban In Bihar From April 1

    Humanity Hospital : Service before Profit

    Humanity Hospital : Service before Profit
    As a charitable hospital operating in Hanspukur and Sundarban, West Bengal, Humanity Hospital serves as a perfect model of affordable healthcare in a country like India where the majority of the population dwells in rural areas.

    Humanity Hospital : Service before Profit

    Oops Moment! Bengaluru Girls Embarrass Rahul Gandhi

    Oops Moment! Bengaluru Girls Embarrass Rahul Gandhi
    Girls of a convent college here embarrassed Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday by endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet initiatives Clean India (Swacchha Bharat) and Make in India.

    Oops Moment! Bengaluru Girls Embarrass Rahul Gandhi

    Swiss Account Row: Amarinder Singh Rebuts Charge, Akalis Ask Him To Quit

    Swiss Account Row: Amarinder Singh Rebuts Charge, Akalis Ask Him To Quit
    Swiss bank authorities have asked Amarinder's wife and former union minister Preneet Kaur and son, Raninder Singh, to exercise their "right to be heard" before sharing information on bank accounts in Switzerland 

    Swiss Account Row: Amarinder Singh Rebuts Charge, Akalis Ask Him To Quit

    AAP MP Bhagwant Mann Challenges Sukhbir Badal, Other Leaders For Dope Test

    AAP MP Bhagwant Mann Challenges Sukhbir Badal, Other Leaders For Dope Test
    "Just by getting effigies (of your opponents) burnt by your sycophants will not solve anything. Know the ground reality, Mr Badal," Mann said.

    AAP MP Bhagwant Mann Challenges Sukhbir Badal, Other Leaders For Dope Test

    Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti: Religious Fervour Marks Gurpurab In Punjab, Haryana

    Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti: Religious Fervour Marks Gurpurab In Punjab, Haryana
    Thousands of devout thronged the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar from early morning to offer prayers.

    Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti: Religious Fervour Marks Gurpurab In Punjab, Haryana