BSF will deploy 2,000 more at border, plug ‘gaps’ in fencing

New Delhi/Chandigarh/Pathankot: As combing operations continued to sanitise the Air Force base in Pathankot that was under siege for four days after terrorists struck, leading to the deaths of seven security personnel and six terrorists, the Border Security Force has submitted a report to the Union home ministry after its director-general D.K. Pathak inspected forward areas on the international border on Tuesday.

The BSF will deploy around 2,000 additional personnel on the Punjab and Jammu borders to plug unfenced riverine and forest gaps, while its report to the MHA on Wednesday said there was no evidence of infiltration along the IB in the wake of the Pathankot terrorist attack.

Sources said around two battalions, comprising 2,000 jawans, are likely to be deployed, but the exact numbers are still being worked out.

The BSF chief had also visited Bamiyal, a border village in the Pathankot area, which is believed to have been used by the terrorists to infiltrate into India and hit the airbase.

Official sources said the BSF gave details of its “night morchas” and the movement of its patrol teams in these areas around the New Year, when it is suspected at least six terrorists crossed over from the Pakistani side. The BSF, in the report, also chronicled the movements and surveillance records of its satellite-based devices and imagers that detect intrusion and illegal movements along the border to validate its point.

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who had visited the Pathankot airbase on Tuesday, briefed the Union Cabinet Wednesday on his findings there, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also briefed the Cabinet on the telephonic conversation between national security adviser Ajit Doval and Pakistan NSA Naseer Khan Janjua on the Pathankot terror strike.

The National Investigation Agency Wednesday quizzed SP-rank officer Salwinder Singh, who was allegedly abducted by the terrorists, who also recreated the scene of his abduction and visited the border village from where the attackers are believed to have sneaked into India. NIA sources said there were some discrepancies in Mr Singh’s statement that were being looked into.

Mr Singh, who is facing charges of alleged breach of discipline and was transferred recently as assistant commandant of the 75th battalion of the Punjab Armed Police, had claimed he was returning from a temple at 11 pm when the terrorists kidnapped him.

The NIA also recorded the statement of the caretaker of the shrine who is believed to have told him that his cook Madan Gopal and Rajesh Kumar Verma (SP’s jeweller friend) had come during day on December 31, only to return in the evening. The caretaker was quoted on some TV channels as saying he was not aware why Gopal, who happens to be his relative, had come on two occasions that day. The NIA plans to question both Mr Verma and Mr Gopal again on some of these discrepancies in the account of the kidnapping that preceded the terror attack at the airbase, sources said.

In Pathankot, there was a brief scare late on Wednesday outside the airbase after a man with a bag was spotted moving in a suspicious manner. The bearded man, who was wearing khaki trousers, was immediately detained after he did not heed a directive to open his bag. The securitymen asked him to keep the bag away and lie on the ground.

The man was grilled and then taken away for questioning, but was eventually let off after around 45 minutes as nothing objectionable was found in his bag. The police also said his mental condition appeared to be unstable.

In Chandigarh, Army officials dismissed the criticism over the deployment of the NSG instead of Army special forces in the counter-terror operation in Pathankot, saying it was a “joint decision” and that the Army was fully involved. “There was NSG, Air Force, Garud commandos. The (use of the) NSG was a joint decision taken at an appropriate level, which included the service chiefs,” Lt. Gen. Kamal Jit Singh, GoC-in-C, Western Command, told reporters at Chandi Mandir, near Chandigarh. There had been criticism of the decision to deploy NSG personnel flown in from Delhi on Saturday morning at the Pathankot base while a large number of Army commandos were available in a nearby garrison. The Army’s special forces commandos were said to be better equipped to deal with the siege of the airbase.

Lt. Gen. Singh said the authorities also wanted to avoid a hostage situation as a large number of families and foreign trainees were residing inside the base. “The buildings in the Air Force Station are such that (they) are located close to the family quarters. The final group of two terrorists were in a two-storeyed structure where ... our own troops were. They (the families) had to be evacuated first and we had to avoid a hostage situation ... because of that it took time.

“I also want to tell you that these barracks, that are MES constructions, are covered with steel doors. It is like sitting inside a bunker inside a building, and so terrorists took advantage of it. The final body was recovered from inside this structure,” the general said.

On why the NSG was brought in for this operation, Lt. Gen. Singh said: “The NSG was brought in because, first, strategic assets were over here. Second, there could be a hostage situation. People were living inside the campus and could have been taken hostage... The NSG are special troops (to handle such situations).” Asked whether there could be any local support to the terrorists, Lt. Gen. Singh said: “Some localised support cannot be absolutely ruled out. It will all be looked into. The NIA will look into it. All aspects of this case will be looked into.”