Pathankot, Jan 4: Even as security forces continue to engage with terrorists in Pathankot, there are various questions being raised about the response.

Preliminary investigations show that the terrorists had infiltrated into India in two groups. There is clear evidence to show that two vehicles, a Pajero and a Land Cruiser was used to transport the terrorists in Pakistan to the Kathua-Gurdaspur border on December 30th 2015.

It is still unclear as to how many terrorists had infiltrated into India and since the time the attack began on January 2 at 3.30 AM, contradictory numbers have surfaced. [Pathankot attack: Who said what on first terror attack of 2016] Even Home Minister of India, Rajnath Singh had declared in a tweet that the operation had come to an end with 5 terrorists being killed only to delete that tweet later.

When everyone thought that the operation had come to a close, firing began again on January 4 2016, Sunday and officials said that there were still two terrorists holed up in the Pathankot air force station. For a change Intelligence was actionable:

One gets to read about Intelligence Bureau alerts being issued every single day. While most of the time these alerts are not entirely actionable, at times these are issued to test the alertness of the police. In the case of Pathankot it was different as the Intelligence was extremely specific. There is bound to be a blame game very soon over who failed to act, but the fact is that an important installation has come under attack and the security forces are still engaged in a battle for the third day in a row.

A lot has already been written about how the terrorists stole the vehicle of the Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police and even used his phone to make a call. In addition to this there were four intercepts picked up by the Intelligence Bureau which clearly suggested an attack at Pathankot. After the abduction incident, there was not enough done to trace the terrorists who had a free run for almost 6 hours. Confusion galore: The Union Home Ministry has sought a response from both the Punjab police as well as the Border Security Force. The Punjab police will have to explain why the complaint of the SP was not acted upon. [Punjab police thought Gurdaspur SP was abducted due to personal scuffle] The BSF on the other hand will have to explain how the infiltration took place in the first place considering that the area the terrorists infiltrated through was highly secure. It must be recalled that in the month of July 2015, the BSF had deployed additional troops along this border area in question. Moreover, one must also remember that when the terrorists infiltrated into India to execute the Gurdaspur attack, it was done through the same place. The NIA which will register a case today will have to find out a lot of details relating to this attack. The first challenge would be how many teams infiltrated into India? Secondly why the complaint and the intelligence was not acted upon. OneIndia News
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Pathankot terror strikes leave us with fewer bravehearts Posted by: Pallavi Sengupta Updated: Monday, January 4, 2016, 16:31 [IST]  Average: 0 stars    

Three days into the Pathankot terror strike, Pakistan may be left with fewer terrorists, but we would be left with fewer brave hearts. As the nation analyses the attacks and Pakistan’s motto behind it, there are families who are yet to realize that their loved-ones are no more. In fact, some had just ventured into the new phases of their lives, building their careers on them. A big salute to them!

Lt Col Niranjan of NSG: This young officer was the latest casualty of the Pathankot terror attack as he was killed by an IED bomb. A bomb disposal expert, Kumar died on Sunday while defusing a grenade after terrorists attacked an Indian Air Force base in Punjab’s Pathankot. Four jawans were also injured in the grenade blast and one of them is serious.

The 34-year old is survived by his father, his wife Dr KG Radhika and a 2-year old daughter. He was promoted to the post of Lt Col in the elite NSG just a few months ago.

Capt Fateh Singh of DSC: He brought pride to India not just this time, but many times earlier. Belonging to the Army’s Markmaship Unit in Mhow for many years, he joined the Defence Security Corps after retiring from the Army as a Subedar Major. He served the Doghra Regiment till last year and was later transferred to Pathankot.

[Read: The importance of Pathankot air force station and why terrorists targetted it]

Hawaldar Kulwant Singh of DSC: He too died while fighting the attackers on Saturday. During his 30 years of survice to the DSC, Havildar Kulwant Singh had always been posted far from home. Barely two months ago, he was posted to his home state of Punjab. He had joined the army when he was 19 and retired in 2004 and joined the DSC the same year.

Hawaldar Jagdish: He worked as a cook in the base and was working in the kitchen when the terrorists struck. The IAF, in a press conference, revealed that he took on the terrorists and chased them away bare-handed and even killed one of them with his rifle. He later died as the rest of the terrorists splayed him with bullets. Sanjeevan Singh Rana: Another Havaldar with the DSC, he died on the first day of the attacks. Corporal Gursewak Singh, A Garud Commando: He died while sanitising the base from the terrorists. He got married 2 months ago. 

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/feature/pathankot-terror-strikes-leaves-us-with-fewer-bravehearts-1973132.html?utm_source=daily-newsletter&utm_medium=email-newsletter&utm_campaign=04012016