US hands over crucial evidence of Pak hand in Pathankot attack to India

New Delhi: The US has handed over evidence consisting of over 1000 pages of chats and conversations between Pathakot attack handler Kashif Jaan and the four fidayeen who were eventually killed, to the NIA.

According to a report, the conversations make it clear that the terror strike on Pathankot was micro-managed from Pakistan.

The four fidayeen of JeM, identified as Nasir Hussain from Punjab, Abu Bakar from Gujranwala and Umar Farooq and Abdul Qayum from Sindh, were in regular touch with their handlers in Pakistan, the report says.

The documents also include Kashif Jaan's conversations with other Pakistan-based JeM office-bearers.

Jaan was using a Facebook account connected to the same mobile number which the attackers called from Pathankot after abducting Punjab police SP Salwinder Singh, apart from Whatsapp chats and use of other platforms, says the report.

These accounts, operated by Jaan, were accessed around the time of the attack using IP addresses of telecom firms based in Pakistan.

Facebook pages containing Jihadi material and videos and comments condemning arrest of Jaish cadres in Pakistan have also been found. The NIA is investigating the documents.

The NIA had approached the US to provide details of these accounts and chats. The proof was shared by the US through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MULAT).

Interestingly, the news comes in the wake of Rajnath Singh’s impending visit to Pakistan for the SAARC interior ministers' and home ministers' conference in August.