LAHORE: Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police on Friday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the alleged attackers of the Pathankot airbase in India and their abettors, the CTD spokesman said.
The FIR was registered in the CTD Police Station Gujranwala under sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code and sections 7 and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the CTD spokesman said. A formal investigation was launched following the registration of the FIR, he said, adding that a joint investigation team will probe the attack and those involved will be tried in accordance with the law. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the FIR has been registered on the basis of initial evidence provided by India and that further action will be taken once more evidence is given.
He said the FIR should dispel misgivings other countries have regarding Pakistan’s commitment towards eradicating terrorism. “We will not allow non-state actors to use Pakistani soil to plot terror attacks on other countries.” A copy of the FIR says Indian National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval informed authorities that the four attackers had come from Pakistan and had “probably crossed the border adjacent to the Pathankot general area”. The NSA is cited as saying that while in India, they made phone calls to cell phones and belonged to a proscribed organisation.
The incident comes just a day after Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar accused Pakistan of not being serious about the Pathankot probe. Following Indian accusations earlier this year that militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad was responsible for the attacks, Pakistani authorities cracked down on the group, sealing a Jaish-run seminary in Sialkot and taking group leader Masood Azhar into protective custody. The Pathankot air base attack occurred just days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a “surprise” visit to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on his birthday and the occasion of his granddaughter’s wedding ? a move that appeared to promise better relations between the neighbouring countries in the coming year.
The Indian government has hailed Pakistan’s initiative of registering an FIR into the Pathankot attack and termed it step ahead in the right direction. The Indian media quoted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman Nalin S Kohli as saying that registration of FIR into Pathankot attack is a positive indication to bring the culprits involved in the attack to book.
