NIA likely to probe cross-border tunnels detected in J&K

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to probe the construction of cross-border tunnels that had been used by Pakistani intelligence to infiltrate militants into Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.

On Saturday, Border Security Force (BSF) found a 150-metre long underground tunnel originating from Pakistan in Pansar area of Hiranagar sector in Kathua district.

Sources said the tunnel was apparently used by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to infiltrate fidayeen (suicide) militants, who carried out a sensational terror attack at Pathankot airbase on January 2, 2016. Seven security personnel and five fidayeen militants were killed in a three-day-long operation and the mastermind of that attack Qasim Jan has been spotted at Shakargarh (Pakistan), just opposite where the tunnel was detected, they said.

Also read — BSF detects Pakistan's 'secret' underground tunnel in J&K's Kathua to infiltrate terrorists

Jan, who is Jaish-e-Mohammad operational commander, was also reportedly involved in launching a group of fidayeen militants who targeted Army installations in Nagrota a few years back. Shakargarh, the area across the fence, is home to a terror training facility.

The NIA is already probing the Pathankot and Nagrota terror attacks and, sources said, investigations had taken the premier probe agency to infiltration route in the Hiranagar sector.

“Not only Pathankot, but many more terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir including two at Nagrota and one at Jhajjar Kotli in Jammu district on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway could also be linked to the tunnel, which had been dug around eight years back and there were reports that it might have been used by many militants for infiltration into the Indian territory,” they said.

As most of these terror attacks are already being investigated by the NIA, sources didn’t rule out the possibility of the premier probe agency stepping into investigations in the construction of the tunnels along IB in Samba and Kathua districts of the Jammu region.

On Sunday, Punjab Police had also visited the site of the tunnel detected on Saturday as it had initially investigated the Pathankot airbase terror attack before it was handed over to the NIA by the Union Home Ministry.

In the last six months, the BSF has detected four cross-border tunnels following massive anti-tunnelling exercises undertaken by it.

As the infiltration along the IB and Line of Control (LoC) has become difficult due to strict vigil by the army and the BSF, Pakistani spy agency ISI is exploring the possibility of infiltrating ultras and weapons through secret tunnels between Kathua and Samba sectors.