1ST ATTACK ON PUNJAB IN EIGHT YEARS - WAKE-UP CALL AFTER DAWN TERROR
Bharti Jain
New Delhi:
MHA sees LeT hand in terror strike
Lashkar-e-Taiba has emerged as the prime suspect behind Monday's terror attack in Gurdaspur in Punjab. The modus operandi was reminiscent of the storming of police stations in J&K, particularly the March attack carried out by LeT in Samba, while the equipment found on the three fidayeen such as GPS device, AK-47s and Chinese grenades, as well as a conscious effort on their part to conceal their identity bore the unmistakable stamp of a Lashkar operation.
The MHA 's initial assessment, discussed at a meeting chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh and attended by defence minister Manohar Parikkar, besides MHA and intelligence brass, is that the terrorists may have infiltrated from across Pakistan into Kathua, which borders Dinanagar, the site of the attack.
“It is likely they were headed for a fidayeen operation in Jammu region, but given the tight security there in the wake of intelligence inputs on LeT's plans to push in two groups of infiltrators into Kathua, they may have found it easier to target an adjoining location in Punjab,“ a senior home ministry official told TOI.
“The modus operandi terrorists dressed in military fatigues, early morning strike and storming of a police station followed by engaging security forces in an encounter had all the elements associated with a typical LeT attack,“ the official added.
The GPS sets, Chinese-made grenades and sophisticated AK-47s found on the terrorists are also the standard equipment carried by Lashkar fidayeen. “ A third giveaway was that no identity document was found on the terrorists, nor did their clothes sport any label. It has been a standard LeT drill to discard all things that can trace the origins of the terrorists,“ said the official.
Even though the terrorists may not have come in with a mission to target Punjab, the fact that they could do so is being seen as a “disturbing“ development by the home ministry . As for the bombs found on railway tracks nearby , the security establishment is not sure if they were planted by the same module. “We are still examining the bombs and whether they were potent enough to blow up a train,“ an intelligence officer said.
Jul 28 2015 : The Times of India (Chennai)
Khalistan group's head admitted to help from Kashmiri terrorists
Rohan Dua
Chandigarh:
Punjab intelligence officers do not rule out the possibility of Pakistan-based Khalistan terror groups working in tandem with the terrorists who attacked Dinanagar in Punjab's Gurdaspur district on Monday . Earlier this year in January Punjab Police, in an operation with Thailand Police, nabbed and extradited Jagtar Singh Tara, selfstyled chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) from Bangkok.
Tara is wanted for the assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh in 1995. His interrogation report has revealed that terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba has been training and assisting Khalistani terrorists in Pakistan for the three years.
The revelations have led the police to look into LeT's role in the 2011 Ambala RDX haul from an Indica car intercepted by Delhi Police while on its way from Jammu.
The RDX was meant to carry out a major blast in the national capital on Diwali that year and KTF had claimed responsibility . The report revealed that Tara had three meetings with LeT terrorist Asdullah Maulvi between 2012 and 2014. The two were apparently introduced to each other by another Khalistani terrorist and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's nephew Lakhbir Singh Rode.
Tara had escaped from Burail Jail in January 2004 with two other terror accused and a murder accused. It is believed that he took shelter in Pakistan before shifting base to Thailand.
Senior Punjab cops told TOI that Tara had asked LeT for foot soldiers in Punjab to carry out attacks. Tara had said in the interrogation that six LeT men were backing KTF . TOI had reported on Tara's revelations in May .The Intelligence Bureau and Punjab Police had prepared the report in mid-April. Shockingly , on April 12, a Khalistan supporter had shot at and injured Punjab Shiv Sena general secretary Harvinder Soni in Gurdaspur while playing volleyball.
Tara attended event at Lahore gurudwara
The IB and Punjab police have intercepted a photograph of KTF chief Jagtar Singh Tara attending an event at Nankana Sahib Gurdwara near Lahore last year. The police are calling this February 21, 2014 photograph evidence to support India's charge that pro-Khalistan militants are being harboured in Pakistan. The conference was organised by Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.
Plan to supply arms using paraglider
Perhaps the most shocking revelation in Jagtar Singh Tara's interrogation report was that there was a plan to use a paraglider to dump heavy ammunition on the banks of the Ravi near Gurdaspur. The flight was to take off from Narowal in Pakistan in February. “As per the plan an individual from a Kashmiri group would undertake a sortie with militant hardware to India. After unloading and dumping ammunition, he'd return to Pakistan,“ the report said.
