E-Paper
Pathankot attackers’ bodies rot in mortuary, to be buried soon
The four alleged members of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group were killed after they attacked the airbase on January 2.
The four suspected Pakistani terrorists killed in the Pathankot airbase attack in January are likely to be buried because it’s becoming a challenge to preserve their rotting bodies in the mortuary.
The bodies have started to decompose as the freezers in a Pathankot hospital mortuary, where they are kept, don’t work efficiently because of frequent power cuts. Besides, it takes 11 policemen to guard the corpses, which Pakistan has not shown any inclination to accept.
“Unbearable stench is emanating from the bodies. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has collected the DNA samples, fingerprints and other evidence necessary for identification of the bodies and shared these with the Pakistani joint investigation team (JIT),” a senior official said.
Read | Pak accuses India of engaging in blame game over Pathankot attack
The four alleged members of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group were killed after they attacked the airbase on January 2.
The bodies were not immediately shifted to the freezer, the official said. “For almost five days they were kept in the open.”
Officials will soon identify a place for the burial.
When the Pakistani probe team visited India in March, Indian authorities offered to take the officials to the mortuary. The JIT members “laughed” at the offer and asked for the DNA samples instead, which were provided to them, home ministry officials said.
Read | Parrikar slams Pakistan for not acting on Pathankot evidence
The NIA identified the attackers as Nasir Hussain of Mohammad Chak in Vehari, a town 100km from Multan in Pakistani Punjab; Hafiz Abu Bakar of Gujranwala in Punjab province; Umer Farooq of Shahdadpur in Sindh; and Abdul Qayum of Chachar in Sindh.
NIA chief Sharad Kumar refused to comment on the agency’s plan to dispose of the corpses.
