The National Investigation Agency has filed a chargesheet against Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar and three others for the January 1 attack on Air The Force Station Pathankot, detailing the conspiracy hatched in Pakistan.
The NIA chargesheet says that the conspiracy was “not limited to Masood Azhar“, hinting at the hand of Pakistani authorities. It also named his brother and his deputy, Abdul Rauf Asghar, Shahid Latif of Gujranwala, Pakistan, and Kashif Jan, the main handler of the four killers. Training camps in Pakistan and POK were set up for recruitment and training of terrorists, who underwent extensive motivational, physical, military and tactical training regimen before they were radicalised and prepared for jihad,“ says the NIA chargesheet on the attack on the Pathankot airbase.
Seven security personnel, including Lt Col Niranjan EK, were killed, while 37 others were injured. All four attackers were killed. The chargesheet will be used by India to push its case for imposing UN sanctions against Azhar -released in 1999 in exchange of a hijacked Indian Airlines plane -that China has so far opposed.
The chargesheet, filed at a Panchkula court, says JeM terrorists in Pakistan were monitoring the attack, with Kashif Jan watching TV channels and receiving chats from different persons on its status. The attack was code-named `nikaah' (wedding) and attackers were called `baraati' (wedding guests). Azhar and the rest have been charged under relevant sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as well as IPC.
The NIA filed the chargesheet without any response from Pakistan despite repeated requests.
The Facebook chats of Kashif and his aides reveal chilling details of how they shared congratulatory messages after Indian soldiers were killed. Among Kashif 's chats that NIA accessed, there's one by one Iqbal gloating, “Kya kaifiyat hai, kya nazare hain; bahut hi umda (what circumstances, and what sights, beautiful... applause),“ he tells Kashif.
In another chat, Mohammed Zia asks about the situation in Pathankot to which Kashif replies, “Nazare khatam hue, baraati ghar gaye (the scenes are over, and the wedding guests are home).“
The NIA also charged that the terrorists wanted the Indian government to know that JeM was behind the attack. The terrorists brought along hand-written notes, one in English and another in Urdu, disclosing the purpose of the attack.
“Jaish-e-Mohammad Zindabad.Tanghdar se le kar Samba, Kathua, Rajbagh aur Delhi tak Afzal Guru Shaheed ke jaan-nesar...tum ko milte rahe.. Allah AGS 25-12-15,“ the note read, praising Guru as a `martyr' known from “Tanghdar to Delhi“.
The chargesheet seeks Azhar's prosecution along with his brother Rauf Asghar and others.
According to a witness, two of the terrorists who reached the airbase used codenames `Major' and `Alpha' while talking to their handlers on the phone.
The chargesheet also puts to rest speculation about number of terrorists involved in the attack as it talks about the presence of only four fidayeen.
The NIA chargesheet submitted in a Mohali court, revealed that even as terrorists hit the Pathankot airbase earlier this year, their handlers in Pakistan were on Facebook. They found social media to be a safe way to get minute-by-minute updates of the attack between January 2 and 5.