Pathankot attack probe: NIA scans all calls from vicinity of IAF base

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency ( NIA) is scanning all the calls exchanged before, during and immediately after the Pathankot attack, between people present in and around the airbase and any Pakistani numbers. This segment of the probe is meant to find out possible clues to an "insider" role in the terror conspiracy.

"We are going through the laborious exercise of sifting through records of calls made in and around the Pathankot airbase to spot any suspicious conversations with Pakistani numbers. This might give us some clue on whether an 'insider' was in touch with elements across the border. This is the only way we can unravel if any local help was extended to the fidayeen, given that there were more than 3,000 families inside the airbase at the time of the attack," said a senior officer.

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Meanwhile, the NIA is awaiting the report of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh, on the charred remains recovered from the attack site. "We have written to CFSL authorities not to delay the forensic report further...we hope to receive it in the next 3-4 days," said an NIA official. The report is expected to establish if the remains sent for forensic examination are of a human body, and whether they belong to one or two individuals... this will help us arrive at the exact number of fidayeen that struck at Pathankot on January 2 and 3," the officer told TOI.

According to NIA sources, it has been conclusively established that the terrorists used GPS or some other navigation tool to access the Pathankot airbase. In the conversations between the fidayeen and their handlers in Pakistan, the latter can be heard exhorting them to rely on navigation systems. "The interesting part is that none of the GPS devices has been recovered. It is possible that they were completely destroyed when the encounter site was shelled following the death of Lt Col Niranjan Kumar in a booby-trap," said an officer.

NIA investigators say their main focus is on establish the role of Jaish-e-Mohammad as the mastermind of the strikes as well as the role of the handlers.