The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe of the Indian Air Force Station attack case in which two drones dropped explosives inside the highly sensitive zone in Jammu. A case has already been filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The first blast took place at 1.37 am on the roof of a single-storey building at the IAF Station’s technical area, while the second one went off five minutes later at 1.42 am on the ground. Two IAF personnel were injured during the blasts.
“Today (29.06.2021), in pursuance of order of MHA, Government of India, NIA has reregistered the case FIR No. 170/2021 of PS Satwari, district Jammu dated 27.06.2021 as RC-03/2021/NIA/JMU under sections 3 & 4 of Explosive Substances Act, 1908, sections 13, 16, 18 and 23 of the UA (P) Act, 1967 and sections 307, 120B of IPC, 1860,” an NIA spokesperson said.
“While NIA has been working with other agencies since immediately after the incident, pursuant to reregistration of the case, requisite actions as per law, for expeditious investigation of case have been initiated,” he added.
An initial probe conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security agencies indicated that drones came from across the border and terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind these attacks. Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbag Singh also confirmed the development, saying that initial investigation hinted towards the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Further investigation would bring out more clarity on this modus operandi, he added.
It is pertinent to mention that apart from the NIA, five other agencies are also carrying out separate probes into this high-profile case. These agencies include National Security Guard (NSG), Jammu Kashmir Police, Indian Air Force, Special Forces of the Indian Army and Anti-terror unit of Delhi Police. Agencies are leaving nothing at chance as this case involves the targeting of high-value assets of the Indian Air Force.
The Union government has also taken this attack seriously and is brainstorming to bring a comprehensive drone policy soon and the same was discussed during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in which Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefed him about the investigation that has been conducted so far in this case.
One can gauge the seriousness of the issue from the fact that within 24 hours of the twin drone explosions, two similar devices were noticed moving over the Ratnuchak-Kaluchak military area in Jammu, prompting soldiers to open fire at them.
It is pertinent to mention that this is first of its kind of attack on any installation using drones and agencies suspect that terrorists may more often use this mode to target Indian forces in future.