People cannot forget the terrorist attack on Pathankot airbase in Punjab. Union Government led by PM Modi rushed in National Security Guard (NSG) commandos to handle the situation.
Many during that time questioned the deployment of NSG commandos when Army base was near to Pathankot. Expects talked about loopholes and security lapses and the botched up operation against the terrorists despite intelligence inputs.
Now in a shocking revelations, it is coming out that NSG didnot rescue soldiers who were inside the airbase. It is known that National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been conducting the investigation.
It is comingout that an air force officer deposed infront of the NIA and gave the following statement. He shared the following information with the NIA which shocked everyone.
“I heard an RT (radio transmission on a wireless set) in which some DSC (defence security corps) personnel was yelling ‘one is dead and two are wounded, please somebody come (to) evacuate us, else we would die.”
I then asked Brigadier (Gautam) Ganguly (the NSG officer leading the commando team) to get one team prepared for rescue to which he didn’t paid (sic) heed to,” said the officer, wing commander Abhijit Sarin, who was asked to guide the NSG team sent to neutralise the attackers.
NIA filed chargesheet in a special court in Mohali but it didnot elaborate on what appeared to betray differences between the NSG and the Indian Air Force personnel in their operational strategies.
The charge sheet contained statements by Sarin and many other IAF officers who were witness to the January 2 attack that left six IAF personnel and one NSG officer dead.
Brigadier Ganguly said he would speak only after getting permission from his superiors. Wing Commander Sarin refused to comment while NSG sources denied these allegations saying “There was a chance of friendly fire. The air force personnel were firing and running ‘helter-skelter’. And it was the NSG that rescued people. The statement gives one-sided view of situation. Besides, there were foreign students as well as families residing in the airbase area. The NSG had to secure everyone,”
Brigadier Ganguly in his statement to NIA said that firing (at the airbase) was continuously shifting and moved towards the DSC line area. Later an army team headed by brigadier Anupinder Bevli reached the air base and surrounded the area with the NSG team. “By the first light (January 2), NSG and Army had cordoned off all DSC line area including open bushy area but we were not sure where the terrorists are (sic) actually hiding. It is to mention here that by this time one of the terrorists had got killed in a scuffle with DSC sepoy Jagdish Ram near DSC lawn area,”
But Brigadier Belvi's statement to NIA clarifed as it said “One column (around 90 to 100 soldiers) with mine protected vehicle was used to evacuate the DSC personnel on the request of the IAF officer,”
Wing Commander Sarin said “Then I left my team and went to the cottage to guard our AOC-in-C. Then after completing it I went to my quarters. Later I heard that three (more) terrorists were gunned down by the NSG in the open area near DSC lawns.” He stated that when the army team reached the Pathankot airbase, he was withdrawn and asked by air officer commanding JS Dhamoon to reach the VIP cottage area and “get the AOC-in-C secure”.
