Pathankot attack: Did the terrorists have inside help?

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is investigating whether an insider had a role to play in facilitating the entry of terrorists who carried out the Pathankot attack on 2 January.

According to a report in a leading English daily, the agency is probing whether the concertina wire on the boundary wall of the airbase was cut from inside by a collaborator. The condition of the damaged wire as well as the fact that the light at the location was not working, had aroused suspicion. 

Sources told the daily that forensic tests are being done on the wire to get some clarity on this. Apart from establishing whether a recce was done to plan the route that the terrorists would take, the agency is also examining phone records of calls made to and from the airbase.

Earlier on Tuesday, a suspected spy, who was working as a labourer at Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot, was arrested by Punjab police. A smartphone was also recovered from his possession containing pictures of vital installations and sensitive equipment in the cantonment area, police said. 

The Pathankot air base houses fighter jets and attack helicopters, and the terror attack had resulted in the death of seven security personnel along with six militants.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said on Monday that it plans to seek more evidence from India, days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the outcome of the investigation into the assault would be made public soon. A Pakistani government team investigating the Pathankot airbase attack will ask the foreign ministry to seek more evidence from India.