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Pathankot airbase attack: NIA files chargesheet, names Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar

AFP
Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Dec 19, 2016, 06:36 AM IST

India has accused Masood Azhar of masterminding several attacks including the one on an Indian air base in January 2016. Photograph:(AFP)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a chargesheet in connection with the Pathankot airbase terror attack, and named Pakistan-based jihadi group? Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar.

Three other JeM terrorists have also been named in the chargesheet filed in Panchkula special court, reported PTI.

In a pre-dawn attack on January 2, a group of heavily- armed Pakistani terrorists, suspected to be belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit, struck at the Air Force base in Pathankot.

The evidence is said to include some voice recordings and the cellular phone numbers of the attackers' handlers, which were traced to Pakistan.

The attack occurred just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a "surprise" visit to Sharif on his birthday on December 25 and the occasion of his granddaughter's wedding -- a move that appeared to bring the promise of better ties between the two countries in the future.

However, despite the Pathankot visit of the five-member Joint Investigation Team of Pak Punjab government headed by Counter Terrorist Department's  Additional Inspector General of Police, Tahir Rai, no progress has been made in the investigation so far.

(This first appeared on DNA)