Preliminary findings by security agencies in the Gurdaspur terror strike suggest that the masterminds made meticulous efforts to conceal the nationality and identity of the three terrorists involved in the fidayeen attack.
Following the 12-hour-long operation on Monday, the Punjab police seized three AK-47 rifles, one of which was fitted with a grenade launcher, and 19 magazines besides two GPS location trackers and grenades. The terrorists used armour-piercing bullets.
While a night-vision device of US make was also seized, five improvised explosive devices were found planted on rail tracks not far from the encounter site at the Dinanagar police station.
The body search of the slain terrorists revealed that tailor labels on their clothes had been deliberately removed. “Proof marks, which establish manufacturer’s identity and country of origin, were erased from the weapons carried by them. The grenades were of Chinese make,” said a security official, wondering how a US manufactured night-vision device landed in the hands of the terrorists.
The official said: “On several occasions in the past, we have seized medicines manufactured and supplied in Pakistan from terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. However, interestingly, we did not find any such article this time,” said the official.
The bombs planted on the rail tracks had also been configured using select components. “Surprisingly, the batteries used in the devices did not carry any manufacturing tag. The bombs did not explode due to faulty wiring and were detected in time by a villager. Their components are being analysed,” said another official.
It is the pre-set coordinates in the GPS devices found on the terrorists which, according to the Union Home Ministry, revealed that they had infiltrated into India from Pakistan via Tash village in Gurdaspur, by crossing the trans-boundary Ravi river.
“It is an incontrovertible proof. We plan to share the findings with Pakistan once investigations into the terror attack are complete from our end,” said a senior Home Ministry official, adding that the Punjab police were making every efforts to establish the identity of the slain terrorists. The government is also planning to recommend bravery awards for all those Punjab police personnel who played a crucial role in containing the terror threat and eliminating the perpetrators in a fierce gunbattle.
