LeT prime suspect, terrorists believed to have crossed over into Kathua from Pakistan

NEW DELHI: 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.