Pathankot jihadis from Pakistan: NIA proof convinces visiting JIT

NEW DELHI: Members of Pakistan's joint investigation team (JIT) could not refute the evidence presented by the National Investigation Agency ( NIA) to establish that the four terrorists who stormed the Pathankot IAF base were Pakistani nationals, Indian sources claimed.

Sources also said the JIT, which spent another day verifying evidence and talking to eye-witnesses, couldn't deny India's case that the attack originated from Pakistan.

The JIT was asked to take action against the suspects, including conspirators Maulana Masood Azhar, Abdul Rauf, Kashif Jan, Shahid Latif and five others, who planned the attack. The NIA has sought DNA samples of suspects based in Pakistan.

The Pakistani delegation questioned Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh and 12 other witnesses on Thursday at the NIA headquarters and sources said all the witnesses reiterated their statements about the sequence of events.

Officials said after questioning the witnesses, which included four other Punjab Police officers, and sharing of evidence like ballistic and DNA reports, call detail records of militants, addresses, phone numbers, post-mortem examination reports and forensic samples, there was no reason for Pakistan not to take action now.

All the evidence, officials said, was admissible in Pakistani courts which increases the chance of the NIA getting evidence from their end. "Our probe converges with the Pakistani JIT on some aspects they have shared regarding action taken by them so far. It's for the first time that Pakistani officials couldn't refute the evidence and are more or less agreed that the attackers came from their country," a senior NIA official said.

The JIT will now interact with the NIA in a concluding session on Friday before leaving for Pakistan.