Vijay Mohan,Tribune News Service,Pathankot, January 4

As operations to clear the Pathankot Air Force Station of terrorists continued for the third day, security forces came up with what could be construed as a definitive figure to end the confusion: the fifth terrorist had been killed today. They, however, chose to maintain silence on the possible presence of more terrorists inside, saying combing operations were underway.

Edit:unsatisfactory response

Earlier during the day, there were reports of six terrorists having been killed, with the last one blowing himself up, but the commanders on the ground did not officially mention any additional number  other than five.“We have eliminated the fifth terrorist today and the combing and search operations are still continuing,” Maj Gen Dushyant Singh, Inspector General (Operations) of the National Security Guard (NSG), announced at the airbase this evening as an IAF C-130 Super Hercules special missions aircraft circled overhead and intermittent gunshots could be heard nearby.Gunshots indicated the possible presence of more terrorists inside or a cautionary measure being undertaken by combat elements when faced with a doubtful situation.The operations are being conducted by the NSG with support from the Army, which is contributing a “major combat element” along with medical and administrative support.The IAF has also deployed its assets, including Mi-35 helicopter gunships, Mi-17 and Dhruv helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and its Garud special forces.“Given the magnitude of the airbase, the search operations will continue till we can declare the station fully safe,” Maj Gen Dushyant Singh said, adding that all assets at the station, including personnel and families, were secure and safe. The air base is huge, spread over 75 acres with a residential area, a school and other amenities, besides technical facilities. Senior officers said the Army was on a general alert since January 1 following inputs of a terror strike. The area around the air base remains cordoned off and access roads have been barricaded with armed Air Force guards along with the police manning the check-points. Life beyond the vicinity of the air base appeared to continue as routine, with bustling markets and jostling traffic.There have been no reports of any further casualties among NSG and armed forces personnel present at the airbase. Seven persons, including a Lieutenant Colonel have been killed in the operations, besides about 20 being injured.Ravi Dhaliwal adds: The Army and Air Force were said to be under pressure from New Delhi to tear down the residential building where two terrorists had taken position after four co-attackers had been shot dead. The two, it is learnt, had entered the building last evening.The Army, anticipating their move, had got the premises vacated. The building is adjacent to the Technical Area and has been partially damaged. It was during the blast that one of the ultras was killed while the remaining one managed to escape. A hunt is on to nab or kill him.Experts also examined the drain from where the terrorists are believed to have entered the Air Force complex. The drain flows from outside the high-walled station, near the Akalgarh Gurdwara, to inside the base away from the Technical Area. That is the reason why the terrorists kept firing from the outskirts and failed to enter the space where high-tech air equipment, including a squadron of fighter planes and helicopters, has been parked.Meanwhile, Punjab Police have formed a special team to trace the route taken by the terrorists to reach the outskirts of the air base. Some officers opine that the armed men trudged their way in from Paharipur village, near the border, in this district. However, another section says the terrorists might have come in from either Bamyal or from the border near Dinanagar. The police team is working in tandem with the BSF officials.

NSG commando’s last rites in Kerala today

Shubhadeep Choudhury,Tribune News Service,Bengaluru, January 4

Karnataka CM Siddharamaiah today announced Rs30 lakh as compensation to the family of Lt Col Niranjan EK who died fighting terrorists at Pathankot.Siddaramaiah said, “Karnataka had given Rs30 lakh as compensation to the family of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a martyr in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. We will give the same compensation to Niranjan’s family.”Kumar’s body was brought to the HAL Airport at Bengaluru today and kept at the mortuary at Command Hospital. The body was brought to his residence around 7 am where family members burst into tears after they saw the mortal remains. Niranjan’s mother is no more. His family comprised his wife and a young child, father, elder brother, sister and stepmother and a stepbrother. His brother E Sharath is an IAF pilot. Union ministers Ananth Kumar and Sadananda Gowda, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Union minister Veerappa Moily paid tributes to the martyr.The body was then flown by a Mi-17 helicopter to Niranjan’s native village Palakkad in Kerala where the cremation would take place tomorrow.

Kangra family says 3-day wait for body added to their agony

Lalit Mohan,Tribune News Service,Dharamsala/Chamba, January 4

The family of Sanjeevan Singh Rana, killed on Saturday in the Pathankot terrorist attack, had to wait for three days to receive his body. The “long delay”, they said, had compounded their miseries.This, rued the relatives of Sanjeevan, who belonged to Shahpur’s Siyunh village in Kangra district, could have been avoided by the state government had it made “some efforts”.Onkar Thakur, a relative, alleged while the Punjab and Haryana governments made special arrangements for bringing home the bodies of their victims, no such effort was visible on the part of the Himachal government.“Let aside the Chief Minister or other higher-rung bureaucrats, not even a lower-rank official from Himachal reached Pathankot to get the body. This is painful disregard for the martyrdom of the soldiers from Himachal by the state government,” said Onkar.Sanjeevan is survived by his wife Pinki Devi, two daughters—Komal, a Class XII student, and Shivani, who is pursuing BCA—and a son, Shubham, who is doing B. Pharma. Serving in the Army has been a tradition with the family as Sanjeevan’s father Rattan Singh Rana is also an ex-serviceman. Rattan Singh, a septuagenarian, said India should toughen its stance towards Pakistan. “Why is Indian government not doing anything when terrorists trained in Pakistan are repeatedly attacking India? We should strike back in the same coin,” he said.Among others who attended Sanjeevan’s cremation were Cabinet Ministers GS Bali and Dhani Ram Shandil, Himachal Pradesh State Forest Corporation vice-chairman Kewal Singh Pathania, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s son and state Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh, state Congress committee secretary Raghubir Singh Bali, BJP legislator Sarween Chaudhary and Kangra Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan.

Govt to give Rs 20 lakh

• The Himachal Pradesh government said it would provide Rs 20 lakh each to the families of the two martyrs killed in the Pathankot terror attack
• State Minister GS Bali said the government earlier used to give Rs 5 lakh to the families of martyrs, but Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday increased the amount to Rs 20 lakh
• Bali said the family members of both the victims would also be entitled to free travel in the state transport buses

Heart-rending scenes mark final journey

Suman Bhatnagar,Ambala, January 4

Chamba man wanted to enter new house

Lalit Mohan,Tribune News Service,Dharamsala/Chamba, Jan 4

Jagdish Chand’s family at Basa village in Chamba was on fast since they received the news of his martyrdom.Jagdish had recently built a new house at his native village and was planning to shift there. There is no road link to his village and one has to walk 2 km on foot. His relatives said the destiny did not allow Jagdish to spend time in his new house.Jagdish Chand had retired from the Army in 2009 after serving in the 7 Dogra Regiment for 26 years. A year later, he joined the Defence Security Corps (DSC). He was transferred to Pathankot from Leh on November 23. He visited his village on December 31 and assured the villagers that he would return for the panchayat elections on January 10.The villagers said Jagdish was off duty and was working in a mess when terrorists attacked the Pathankot airbase. Unarmed, Jagdish snatched a rifle from the terrorist and killed him. However, he could not survive attack from other terrorists.Jagdish is the third martyr from Basa village with a population of 250. The other two martyrs were Suja Ram of 15 Dogra who was killed while serving the IPKF in Sri Lanka and Khemraj, who was killed in the Kargil war. Jagdish Chand is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

The wailing family of Commando Gursewak Singh in Ambala. PTI

The mortal remains of Garud Commando Corporal Gursewak Singh (26), who was killed in the Pathankot terror attack on Saturday, were consigned to flames with full state honours at his native village Garnala today.Gursewak is survived by his wife Jaspreet, who he had married one-and-a-half months ago, parents and an elder brother. The family was inconsolable as an Air Force vehicle brought the body, wrapped in the Tricolur, to the village.Around 300 Air Force personnel escorted the funeral procession. Emotions ran high as the commando’s elder brother Hardeep Singh lit the pyre amid the raising of patriotic slogans.Besides the Air Force and Army contingents, hundreds of people from various walks of life attended the cremation. Prominent among them were Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, Finance Minister Abhimanyu and Minister of State for Mines Nayab Singh Saini, MLA Aseem Goel, INLD state president Ashok Arora, Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, All-India Anti-Terrorist Front president MS Bitta, Anti-Terrorist Front India chief Viresh Shandily, former state minister Nirmal Singh and senior officers of the district administration.Amid heart-rending scenes, Gursewak’s mother Amrik Kaur and father Sucha Singh said their son had made them proud.Sucha Singh, an exserviceman, said, “My son has laid down his life for the country.” He said his elder son Hardeep Singh too was in the Army and he wished that his grandson should also join the armed forces to keep the family tradition alive.

Daughter lends shoulder to Punjab shooter’s body

Ravi Dhaliwal,Tribune News Service,Gurdaspur, January 4

Poignant scenes were witnessed at the crematorium of Jhanda Gujran, the native village of Capt (Hon) Fateh Singh who was killed by the militants in Pathankot on Saturday. The soldier’s body was brought to his village yesterday and was cremated with full military honours today in the presence of Brig RK Tiwari. A guard of honour was given by the Sikh Regiment.Fateh Singh’s daughter Madhu Radha Katal, an English teacher at a college in Mhow (MP) who had come to the air force base on a vacation, lent her shoulder to her father’s body at the crematorium.Fateh Singh, a former international-level shooter who has bagged 64 medals of various hues in national and international events, retired from the Army before joining the Air Force. He is survived by his wife Shobha Thakur, daughter Madhu and two sons, Gurdeep Rana and Nitin Thakur. The eldest son, Gurdeep Rana, is working with the 15th Dogra Regiment, the same regiment from which his late father retired.An inconsolable Madhu said she heard a loud noise, following which power supply to their quarter at the air base was disconnected. “I was afraid and crawled under a bed. Minutes later, somebody told me that Papa was admitted to the Military Hospital, and that his condition was critical. My mother consoled me and my other family members. My father used to consider me as his third son,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

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