Home » india news » Focus on 'abducted' SP but drug smugglers may hold the key to #Pathankot
 

Focus on 'abducted' SP but drug smugglers may hold the key to #Pathankot

Rajeev Khanna | Updated on: 14 February 2017, 5:12 IST
QUICK PILL

The probe

  • SP Salwinder Singh is the focus of the Pathankot attack probe
  • He was abducted by the terrorists on the night of the strike, then freed
  • The state has given him a clean chit, but he has hard questions to answer

Big question

  • Should the NIA focus on the role of drug and arms smugglers?
  • The attackers could have got logistical support from smugglers, says cop
  • Nexus of smugglers, politicians, cops, BSF men is key to the puzzle: ex-DGP

Of the many questions swirling around the Pathankot attack, this is one of the most troubling: was it facilitated by the network of drug and arms smugglers in Punjab?

Indeed, former Punjab DGP Shashikant told Catch that the "puzzle" of the attack can't be solved "unless there's a fair investigation into the nexus that could have resulted in it".

"There is a need to probe the nexus of drug and arms smugglers, politicians, officials of the police, BSF and civil services, and even some NGOs," Shashikant, who has handled the state's intelligence brief, said.

Also read - The good & the bad of Pathankot operation: from a soldier's viewpoint

"If this is not done, more Pathankots might happen," he added.

In 2007, Shashikant had prepared a list of Punjab's top drug smugglers and named politicians and officials who were involved in the illegal trade. "It led to a furore but nothing came of it," he said, ruefully. "In fact, it's me who is facing the music and court cases. I am being called a fool."

Shashikant explained how the cross-border drug and arms smuggling takes place.

Punjab shares a 550 km long border with Pakistan. Of this, about 60 km is riverine while the rest is largely fenced.

Drug consignments are normally stashed in PVC pipes, which are thrown over across the fence.

On this side, the consignments are picked up by "sleeper cells" of the smuggling network. "However, it's the low-key riverine border that is often used for terrorist infiltration."

No end to Salwinder Singh's woes: Hoshiarpur woman says he married her in 1994, left 6 years later

A serving police officer also said the attackers "could have received logistical support from drug smugglers".

As of now, however, the investigation is focused on Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh, who was allegedly abducted by the attackers on the night of 31 December before they struck the air base.

Also read - Pathankot anti-terror operation: Gaping holes & questions galore

Under the lens

Although the Punjab government has reportedly cleared him of wrongdoing, Salwinder remains "key to the puzzle" for the NIA. The agency may subject him to a polygraph test.

As Catch has explained, Salwinder has some hard questions to answer whether he's innocent or not. Many more doubts are being cast, by the day, on his version of the events. Such as:

Salwinder claims he left the shrine he had visited the night he was abducted at around 11 pm, but his friend Rajesh Verma says they left at 10.45 pm. The caretaker of the shrine Som Raj has reportedly told the investigators that they arrived at 9 pm and left by 9.30 pm.

Why did the SP use a blue beacon on a private SUV, which is illegal? Apparently, it was this beacon that enabled four of the attackers to pass through police checkpoints and get close to the air base.

Why was there no wireless set or any other "mode of departmental communication" in Salwinder's vehicle?

Also read - Here's what we know about the ongoing Pathankot terror attack so far

Why, allegedly, was he carrying three cellphones and four SIM cards? And why did the terrorists use only Verma's phone to call their handlers, not Salwinder's?

Most important, why did the SP not take the regular route back from the shrine and instead preferred a 28-km long detour?

Interestingly, the Punjab government's clean chit to Salwinder is seen as a "cover up for delayed response to his alleged abduction". It has reportedly told the central home ministry that there was no delay in responding to Salwinder's call to the Gurdaspur SSP at 3.23 am.

Salwinder had alleged that the SSP wouldn't believe him and told him to call the Police Control Room, where no one responded till 6 am. By this time, an injured Verma was located and the police got down to work.

#Pathankot attackers could have received logistical support from drug smugglers: Punjab cop

"Everybody is a suspect in such a scenario," said Shashikant. "The role of everyone, from politicians to officials of police and security agency must be investigated."

To add to Salwinder's woes, he has just been accused of bigamy. A woman from Tanda Urmur in Hoshiarpur has come forward claiming to be his second wife. Karanpreet Kaur has claimed that Salwinder married her in 1994 when he was an Assistant Sub Inspector in Amritsar and abandoned her six years later.

Meanwhile, the police launched combing operations at three places after reports of "two suspicious persons" being sighted near Tibri Cantonment, Gurdaspur.

"We are not taking any chances. Combing operations are on in Gurdaspur, Pathankot and along the border," said IGP, Border Range, Kunwar Vijay Pratap.

More in Catch - Exclusive: India tipped off on 25 Dec about Pathankot. Even as Modi met Sharif

#PathankotAttack: Modi has 3 choices. He needs to pick one and stick to it

#PathankotArrest: why this TV spectacle was disgraceful and dangerous

First published: 9 January 2016, 1:22 IST