ISLAMABAD: Officials said an FIR has been lodged by Pakistani authorities, into the Pathankot terror attack case, weeks after probe into the assault that led to the postponement of India-Pakistan foreign secretary-level talks.
Registered at counter-terrorism department centre in Gujranwala in Punjab province, the FIR was needed to start police and judicial proceedings on the basis of evidence collected in connection with the attack for which India has blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed militant group. India has identified Maulana Masood Azhar as the mastermind of the attack, and also blamed his brother Rauf and five others for the attack that killed all six terrorists along with seven Indian soldiers.
FIR number 06/2016 has been lodged under sections 302, 324, and 109, of the Pakistan Penal Code, and sections 7 and 21-1 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The Pathankot incident effectively postponed the much anticipated meeting between foreign secretaries of both the countries in January in Islamabad. Since then, no date has been fixed for talks. The FIR also shows the telephone numbers contacted by the militants during the attack. A police official said that after the FIR, any accused can be presented before the court for start of a formal trial. Intelligence officials said about a dozen suspects were arrested in Pakistan after the attack.
The FIR has reportedly been registered on the recommendations of a six-member special team probing the attack. Last month, CTD police Gujranwala had presented three JeM militants before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) for possessing jihadi literature.
