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Govt formally notifies NIA to take over probe
NEW DELHI: The government on Monday formally notified the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over probe into the attack on army base in Uri.
NEW DELHI: The government on Monday formally notified the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to take over probe into the attack on army base in Uri.
Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi told the NIA chief Sharad Kumar to formally register a case. The agency will take charge of the case filed by Jammu and Kashmir police in connection with the attack.
Meanwhile, a team of NIA officials has reached Uri to initiate a probe. “An inspector general rank official of the NIA will visit Uri on Tuesday to monitor the probe,” said a home ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Counter-terror sources said if the attack was carried out by Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), as indicated by Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh in his media briefing on Monday, it is quite possible that two main handlers of JeM – Kashif Jaan and Shahid Latif – may have also played a part here.
According to an NIA investigation, Jaan and Latif were main handlers of attackers in the Pathankot airbase strike. Both of them directly report to JeM chief Masood Azhar. The NIA is preparing to file formal charges in the Pathankot case. Though, India formally shared evidence with a Pakistani joint investigation team, Islamabad has not acted on it so far.
“Like in the Pathankot case, we will focus on the recoveries made from the attack site, like Pakistani marking son food items and weapons brought by the Uri attackers, in order to trace their origin,” said an NIA officer on condition of anonymity.
Counter-terror sources said there was a general warning a few days before the attack that military bases in northern India may be targeted. Uri sector had seen a similar kind of attack on an army base in Mahura in December, 2014. Eight soldiers and three policemen had been killed in the attack.
