How the six terrorists entered the Air Force Station at Pathankot remains a mystery, even as the operation ended today with the killing of all of them.
No tell-tale signs of a breach in the 26-km boundary wall of the air base have been found, it is learnt. The wall all along, except near the air strip, is several feet high and cannot be easily scaled. “The height of the boundary wall is lower near the air strip. But the distance between the air strip and non-technical area, where the fidayeen were spotted and where the entire gunbattle took place, is several hundred feet. It seems unlikely that they could have managed to travel that distance without drawing attention on January 1,” a source said.
Investigation is being conducted to ascertain whether the wire that is used for fencing even over the small drains that run out of the Air Force Station had been stretched beyond its normal size, so as to allow entry. So far, nothing concrete has been established.
The investigation has so far been pointing towards the fact that the terrorists were hiding in the forest area near the Air Force Station before they entered, since mobile phone signals had been detected from the area.
Though it was cordoned off, the security forces were waiting for the break of dawn to enter this area and engage the terrorists. How this cordon was breached is another question that seeks answers.
Official sources maintain that they were in a state of preparedness and had specific inputs of a strike at the air base. They maintain that the Air Force station had been asked to increase patrolling and activate its Quick Reaction Teams by around 4 pm. Even the barracks of the Defence Services Corps (DSC) had been vacated at night. However, the patrolling does not seem to have achieved its purpose.
Officials are now banking on the NIA probe to fill in these gaps in the sequence of events.
No tell-tale signs of a breach in the 26-km boundary wall of the air base have been found, it is learnt. The wall all along, except near the air strip, is several feet high and cannot be easily scaled. “The height of the boundary wall is lower near the air strip. But the distance between the air strip and non-technical area, where the fidayeen were spotted and where the entire gunbattle took place, is several hundred feet. It seems unlikely that they could have managed to travel that distance without drawing attention on January 1,” a source said.
Investigation is being conducted to ascertain whether the wire that is used for fencing even over the small drains that run out of the Air Force Station had been stretched beyond its normal size, so as to allow entry. So far, nothing concrete has been established.
The investigation has so far been pointing towards the fact that the terrorists were hiding in the forest area near the Air Force Station before they entered, since mobile phone signals had been detected from the area.
Though it was cordoned off, the security forces were waiting for the break of dawn to enter this area and engage the terrorists. How this cordon was breached is another question that seeks answers.
Official sources maintain that they were in a state of preparedness and had specific inputs of a strike at the air base. They maintain that the Air Force station had been asked to increase patrolling and activate its Quick Reaction Teams by around 4 pm. Even the barracks of the Defence Services Corps (DSC) had been vacated at night. However, the patrolling does not seem to have achieved its purpose.
Officials are now banking on the NIA probe to fill in these gaps in the sequence of events.
