Pathankot terror attack: NIA raids residences of Gurdaspur SP, close aides in Punjab

The NIA raided several places, including the residences of Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh and his close aides, in connection with the recent Pathankot airbase terror attack in the wee hours on Thursday.

New Delhi/Chandigarh: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials on Thursday raided at least six places in Punjab's Gurdaspur and Amritsar towns as part of the ongoing probe into the January 2 terror attack at the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot.

The places where the raids were carried out belong to suspected Punjab Police officer Salwinder Singh and his two companions who were allegedly kidnapped by terrorists hours before they mounted the attack at the airbase.

"Two days after the lie detector test of Salwinder Singh, we carried out raids at six locations, four in Gurdaspur and two in Amritsar," an NIA official, requesting anonymity, was quoted as saying by IANS.

"The locations include the residential places of Singh, his friend Rajesh Verma and his cook Madangopal," he added.

Singh's lie detector test was conducted by the NIA on Tuesday.

Singh, at present, is posted as Assistant Commandant of 75th Punjab Armed Police after being shunted out as the superintendent of police (headquarters) at Gurdaspur.

Six Pakistani terrorists - believed to be from the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit - sneaked into Punjab from across the border and took the Punjab Police officer hostage before taking away his vehicle.

They attacked Singh's friend and cook, but left the police officer himself unharmed and untouched, raising suspicions about his role in the whole episode.

The six terrorists later attacked the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, killing seven security personnel.