New Delhi: Despite denial from Pakistan, new evidence has emerged suggesting that the perpetrators of the Gurdaspur attacks had links from across the border.
Gloves with the tag "Made in Pakistan" and a US-made night vision device that could have been procured from Afghanistan were recovered from the three terrorists during the autopsy, according to a report in the Hindustan Times.
“After the operation was over on Monday, we had done a random search of the clothes the ultras were wearing. But no label was found in the clothes, including the undergarments,” the report quoted a police source as saying.
“The bodies were handed over to the doctors as found. It was while making the inventory and a close examination of the clothes the terrorists were wearing that the doctors found a ‘Made in Pakistan’ tag intact in one glove of a terrorist... The night vision device had a unique number (032008 80063 – A325) along with markings such as 'warning' and 'US government property'. The initial probe indicated that the night vision device originated from strife-torn Afghanistan," sources said.
The autopsy was carried out by a panel of doctors in the Gurdaspur civil hospital on Friday. The information regarding the US- made night vision glasses were formally shared with the FBI. The panel also collected DNA samples of the terrorists.
Earlier on Thursday, the Home Minister Rajnath Singh had linked the Gurdaspur attack to Pakistan. He said that the three terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan through the Ravi river through Mastgarh village in the Gurdaspur, to which Pakistan had retorted saying that pointing fingers without investigation is not a healthy trend.
Read: Gurdaspur terrorists came from Pakistan using Ravi river, says Rajnath Singh
Three heavily-armed terrorists dressed in army uniforms struck in Gurdaspur at around 5.30 am and stormed the police station on 27th July, leading to a 12-hour gun battle.
The Punjab Police have recovered a number of "incriminating material" including three AK rifles, 19 magazines and two GPS devices from the dead terrorists, which are being analysed for further necessary action, according to a Home Ministry statement.
The police probe has revealed that the terrorists first planted 2.5 kg of RDX to blow up a small railway bridge and left behind the US-made night vision device. They then went to Dinanagar bus stand before storming the police station.
One GPS set has an entry for Gurdaspur, indicating that the terrorists probably would have attacked the town too if they had not been engaged by police during an initial gun battle.
In the terror attack, three civilians, three Home Guards and one police officer lost their lives, he said, adding 10 civilians and seven security force personnel were also injured.
