Investigations into the Gurdaspur terror attack have revealed that the ultras were wearing ‘made in Pakistan’ gloves. Also, the origin of a seized night vision device (NVD), a ‘US government property’, points towards an Afghanistan link.
The panel of doctors, who conducted postmortem of the three fidayeen killed in the July 27 operation by Punjab Police, have specifically mentioned in their ‘external appearance’ report of the ultras’ clothes that ‘made in Pakistan’ tag was found intact on a glove worn by one of the terrorists. This is a yet another vital evidence that points towards Pakistan’s hand in the strike, police sources told Hindustan Times.
The doctors also took DNA samples of the terrorists and submitted a detailed postmortem report to the investigators.
After the dawn-to-dusk operation was over on Monday, police had done random search of clothes worn by the terrorists to gather clues. However, no label was found on their clothes, including undergarments.
“The bodies were handed over to doctors, who during close examination of terrorists’ clothes found ‘made in Pakistan’ tag intact on a glove,” police sources said, pointing out that investigators would take even soil samples from the shoes of the terrorists for in-depth analysis.
The police probe is focusing on four key areas: How the terrorists got the sophisticated US-made NVD; detailed examination of the two recovered Global Positioning System devices; origin of the rocket-propelled grenade launcher and vital clues brought to the fore in the postmortem report.
The US NVD has unique number (032008 80063–A325) along with markings such as “warning” and “US government property”. The investigators have informally shared the details of this device with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The initial probe reveals that the night vision device “originated from the strife-torn Afghanistan,” a source said. From the markings on the NVD, the FBI would ascertain when and where they lost this device or to which force it was given initially, sources say. Another focus of the probe is on the lethal rocket- propelled grenade launcher which was recovered from the terrorists holed up inside the Dinanagar police station. All aspects of this weapon are being investigated. When this weapon was found it was in a ‘ready to launch’ position with one live rocket inside it. Initially, this weapon had baffled the police and they were unable to ascertain as to what type of weapon was it.
Sources say: “The rocket launcher was placed in a direction of the police station from where major police offensive was launched. It seems the terrorists wanted to fire a rocket as a last resort to flee from the site.”
The investigation into the GPS data points out that a dozen-odd waypoints were uploaded on July 21 on the GPS. “The three fidayeen first crossed the Ravi river through Mastgarh village from across the border adjoining Gurdaspur sector. The terrorists after crossing the Ravi planted 2.5kg RDX on the track to blow a small rail bridge. It was from this bridge the US-made NVD was recovered. The GPS has entry of Gurdaspur town, indicating that the ‘jihadis’ wanted to strike in Gurdaspur town also had they not been effectively engaged by the police during the initial gun battle,” sources said.
The probe is being conducted by a police team comprising Punjab railway police chief Rohit Chaudhary and Inspector General (crime) G Nageshwar Rao. Intelligence Bureau, Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF sleuths are also assisting Punjab cops in the investigation.
Source : MSN