Press Trust of India
Jammu, June 21: Terrorists are hiding in villages close to the “vulnerable” Pathankot airbase, which can come under fresh attack from them, the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Home Affairs said Tuesday.
It said the government has been informed about it and security of the strategically important facility beefed up. The committee was in Jammu to review the security arrangements along the international border and had earlier gone to Pathankot.
“After going back from Pathankot, we made our suggestions to the government and said that there can be further attack on Pathankot… We were told by the villagers that some terrorists were still hiding in the villages there,” chairman of the committee P Bhattacharya told reporters here Tuesday.
After the recommendation of the committee, the government has alerted the CRPF, BSF and the army and handed over the security of the airbase to them, he said. “Do you know that a few days ago, government asked the CRPF, BSF and the Army to guard the air force station because some terrorists are hiding there. How they are hiding there, it is not my business to find out but as we got the information from the villagers, it was very clear to us that they are hiding somewhere. We have informed the government of India about it,” said Bhattacharya.
When asked to comment on the permission granted by the Indian government to the Pakistani investigation team to visit Pathankot airbase to probe the January 2 attack, he said he was not in favour of allowing Pakistani intelligence officers to visit the strategic facility.
“The committee does not support the idea of the government of India bringing this intelligence branch of Pakistan here,” he said.
Pak envoy invites separatists for Iftar
Srinagar/Jammu: Separatist leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have been invited by the Pakistan High Commission for the annual Iftar party in New Delhi slated for June 25. Most of the top and middle-rung separatist leaders from both factions of Hurriyat Conference and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front have been invited to the event.
Top LeT militant arrested
Srinagar: A top Lashkar-e-Toiba commander has been arrested by security forces from Kupwara district of north Kashmir, police said Tuesday. Abu Ukasha, also known as Hanzullah, was apprehended by security forces during an operation in Sogam area of Kupwara Monday evening, a police official said. He said on Ukasha’s disclosure, the security forces launched a search operation in the nearby forests to track down another LeT militant, Abu Bakar.
