The five-member team from Pakistan had visited Pathankot. (Press Trust of India file photo)
Highlights
- Probe team visited crime scene, recorded statements: Pak statement
- This is Pak's first official reaction after probe team's Pathankot visit
- 7 security personnel died in attack by Pakistani terrorists at Pathankot
In its first official reaction since its team of investigators visited the Pathankot air base, Pakistan tonight said India did not produce witnesses belonging to security forces before its probe panel.
"The JIT visited the crime scene and also recorded the statements of some witnesses. However, the witnesses belonging to the Indian security forces were not produced before it," a statement from the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said.
The five-member Joint Investigation Team or JIT from Pakistan had toured the air base last week to scrutinise and collect evidence of the attackers being from Pakistan and operating on the orders of Masood Azhar, the chief of terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed.
"The JIT briefed the NIA on progress of investigations in Pakistan. Further investigations are underway," the statement added.
The statement, however, makes no reference to reports in Pakistani media that quote a report prepared by the Pakistani probe team as saying "the attack was a drama staged to malign Pakistan and persuade the world community that Pakistan is involved in terrorism." The report also allegedly states that "Indian authorities also failed to establish that the attackers entered from Pakistan."
Indian government sources had responded firmly to the media reports, stating, "This is the ISI, Pakistan army indulging in usual psychological ops and double-speak."
According to the government, the Pakistani probe team was provided all evidence related to the attack, including the DNA of four terrorists, their identity as well as call records showing the involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in the terror strike.
Early in January, Pakistani terrorists had crossed the border into Punjab and attacked the Pathankot Air Force base, killing seven military personnel. The terrorists car-jacked two vehicles - one belonging to a police officer and another to a taxi driver who was found with his throat slit - to journey to the base near the border with Pakistan.