Terror handlers using new infiltration scheme

At a hurriedly called security review meeting at the defence ministry following the Pathankot attack, one of the questions being debated was – is there a shift in the strategy of Pakistan-based terrorists to use more relaxed Punjab borders as the entry point ?

Those who attended the review conference in the South Block are Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who rushed from Goa; National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy and heads of the top intelligence agencies.

The top brass in the security establishment not only reviewed the ground situation but also discussed if terror handlers across the border are adopting a new infiltration scheme.

The strike on the Indian Air Force’s Pathankot base that houses MiG-21 fighter jets and MI-35 gunships were carried out by a group of militants in combat fatigues, who are understood to have crossed the border in Punjab rather than using their known routes in Jammu and Kashmir.

The international border is just 35 km (as the crow flies) from the Pathankot air base.

The pattern is similar to the last terror strike in July 2015, when the ultras stormed Dinanagar police station in Gurdaspur district.

 Dinanagar is about 15 km from Ravi river, which is monitored by the Border Security Force’s water wing.