Terrorist released by Congress-led UPA govt played key role in Pathankot terror attack: Report

NIA has said that it would like to visit Pakistan to carry forward the investigation in the Pathankot attack.

Delhi: Indian investigators have uncovered an important information about how a group of terrorists crossed the border at the start of the New Year in order to carry out the terror attack at Pathankot air force base.

According to a report by NDTV, Shahid Latif, 47, allegedly provided logistical and other support for the four Pakistanis who had attacked the air force base.

He is said to have been released from an Indian prison in 2010 by previous Congress-led UPA government. 

Latif, reportedly senior leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed and hailing from Pakistan, was arrested in 1996 from Jammu regarding narcotics and terrorism case.

JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar is said to be the masterminded of the Pathankot attack, as per Indian agencies.  

Latif was deported six years ago, along with nearly 20 other terrorists, supposedly to improve relations with Pakistan.

They returned home through the Wagah border in Punjab, as per the report.

"All those released had served their full term in Indian jails and couldn't have been kept back," the website quoted a senior source in the National Investigation Agency ( NIA) as saying.

Latif was among the men whose release was unsuccessfully demanded by the terrorists when Indian Airlines plane IC814 was hijacked by five armed men to Kandahar in Afghanistan in 1999.

Masood Azhar was freed along with two others in exchange for the 189 passengers and crew.