New Delhi gives Islamabad clean chit

Pathankot attack: Indian probe agency chief says no evidence of Pak govt, agencies involvement found; rules out inside assistance

NEW DELHI: The head of an Indian investigation agency has said there was no evidence to indicate that the Pakistani government or agencies were behind the Pathankot Airbase attack.

In an interview with Indian news channel News18, the Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Sharad Kumar, said that there was no evidence that the Pakistan government or Pakistani government agencies had helped the militants in carrying out the attack. He also ruled out inside assistance to the militants in the assault. “Investigation so far does not point to any inside hand,” Kumar told the channel.

He added that the NIA had completed its Indian leg of investigation and was now waiting for Pakistan to allow the Indian team to visit the country, the Indian media reported.

Kumar further said that a charge-sheet would be filed in the attack even if Pakistan did not give access to the NIA. A Pakistani joint investigation team (JIT) had visited India in March in connection with the probe into the Pathankot terror attack.

After the visit, the DG NIAwas held in accordance with terms of reference mutually agreed on the basis of reciprocity. Militants had entered the strategic airbase at Pathankot on January 1 night and mounted a brazen assault. In the fierce encounter that had ensued, seven security personnel, besides four militants, were killed.