Why Pakistan's offer for fair probe into Pahalgam attack is just hogwash

Four days after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, where terrorists gunned down 26 Indians in the Baisaran meadows, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered to participate in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation. He characterised the offer as a continuation of Pakistan’s “role as responsible country”.

However, a look into the neighbouring nation's track record in this issue looks far from responsible.

New Delhi has sent more than a dozen court-approved requests for assistance in investigations to Pakistan over long years in connection with almost all major terrorist attacks in India, but Islamabad has never bothered to respond to even one, security sources told The Federal.

Past terror attacks

Following horrific terrorist strikes at Uri (2016), Nagrota (2016), Langate (2016) and Pulwama (2019), all in Jammu and Kashmir, India sent court-mandated pleas to Pakistan for probe assistance — these are called 'Letters of Rogatory', or LR, in legal parlance.

“Under international pressure, Pakistan twice opened probes of its own — the 26/11 Mumbai attacks (2008) and Pathankot airbase attack (2016) — but no tangible result came out of them. All this in the end turned out to be hogwash,” an investigator who has been instrumental in sending at least half-a-dozen LRs to Pakistan, told The Federal on the condition of anonymity.

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The same drama, Indian officials say, is being enacted now. The investigator who spoke to The Federal dismissed Sharif's recent gesture. “Sharif’s offer is another page from a predictable script, now repeated many times. Islamabad will never walk the talk on terror," he said.

A Pakistani admission

No less a personality than Tariq Khosa, former chief of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), admitted as much about the 26/11 Mumbai attack that saw Indian troops kill nine of the 10 Pakistani terrorists and capture and hang one, Ajmal Kasab.

“Pakistan has to deal with the Mumbai mayhem, planned and launched from its soil,” Khosa wrote in 2015 inthe Pakistani newspaper Dawn. “This requires facing the truth and admitting mistakes. The entire state security apparatus must ensure that the perpetrators and masterminds of the ghastly terror attacks are brought to justice.

“The following facts are pertinent. First, Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani national, whose place of residence and initial schooling as well as his joining a banned militant organisation was established by the investigators. Second, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were imparted training near Thatta, Sindh and launched by sea from there. The training camp was identified and secured by the investigators," he wrote. “The casings of the explosive devices used in Mumbai were recovered from this training camp and duly matched."

Explosive revelations

Khosa further wrote in the piece: "Third, the fishing trawler used by the terrorists for hijacking an Indian trawler in which they sailed to Mumbai, was brought back to harbour, then painted and concealed. It was recovered by the investigators and connected to the accused.

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“Fourth, the engine of the dinghy abandoned by the terrorists near Mumbai harbour contained a patent number through which the investigators traced its import from Japan to Lahore and then to a Karachi sports shop from where an LeT-linked militant purchased it along with the dinghy. The money trail was followed and linked to the accused who was arrested.

“Fifth, the ops room in Karachi, from where the operation was directed, was also identified and secured by the investigators. The communications through Voice over Internet Protocol were unearthed.

“Sixth, the alleged commander and his deputies were identified and arrested. Seventh, a couple of foreign-based financiers and facilitators were arrested and brought to face trial.” Despite these admissions by a former Pakistani top cop, nothing came of the so-called 26/11 attack trial in Pakistan.

All for nothing

Even before the 2016 Pathankot attack, there were nine LRs pending with Pakistan. None drew a reply.

In connection with the Pathankot attack, Pakistan again launched a probe of its own by registering an FIR.

In May 2016, a Pakistan investigation team came to India to gather evidence and was hosted at the NIA headquarters in the national capital.

The NIA officials made them listen to audio clips of Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar — brother of terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leader Maulana Masood Azhar — claiming to have send ‘mujahideen’ to attack the Pathankot airbase and making fun of India’s response.

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The team visited the airbase as well for investigation into the attack that left eight people including seven security personnel dead. All six terrorists were also killed during the siege of the base.

The NIA also shared numbers of handlers in Pakistan who directed the attackers inside the airbase during the attack.

The NIA was supposed to pay a reciprocal visit to Pakistan but it never happened. That was the end of India-Pakistan cooperation on the Pathankot attack.

Kashmir police LRs

“Besides the NIA, the Jammu Kashmir Police have sent many LRs to Pakistan. Again, no reply came from them (Pakistan). Terrorists bring supplies from Pakistan. Fruits, medicines and weapons. We send all these details to Pakistan for verification by way of LR but no cooperation has ever been received,” said the investigator.

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An army camp at Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir was attacked by three suicide attackers in October 2016. The attack was foiled with all three attackers killed.

The NIA was entrusted with the probe. During the searches of one of dead attackers, a booklet was recovered with a Pakistani mobile number written on its flap. The number was found connected to a Twitter account and the profile picture of the account matched with the dead attacker.

In the profile picture, the attacker was seen wearing a dress of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an outfit linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The irrefutable evidence directly connected the attack with LeT. Again, Pakistan was approached but it didn’t bother to respond.