India's anti-terror agency files charge sheet in air force base attack case

India's anti-terror agency filed a charge sheet in the Pathankot air force base terror attack case on Monday, nearly a year after Pakistani militants launched a deadly strike there, killing eight security force personnel.

The National Investigation Agency filed the charge sheet in the case in a trial court in northern Indian state of Punjab and named Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad and its top leaders for the attack, highly placed sources said.

As proof, the charge sheet cites DNA samples of dead terrorists, food packets from Pakistan found in the forests, a walkie-talkie set and a note found from the car used by the terrorists to drive to the base, which said, "Jaish-e-Mohammed Zindabad (long live)..."

The charge sheet also says all the terrorists who had carried out the deadly strike on the air force base were Pakistanis and their two handlers, who were gunned down later by Indian security forces, were also from the neighboring country, the sources said.

The terror attack on the air force base took place on January 2, when some heavily armed terrorists hijacked a police car and entered the highly secured military installation. Soon, a gunbattle followed between Indian security forces and the militants, in which eight security men lost their lives.

None of the vital military equipment and aircraft was damaged, but all the terrorists were neutralized by security force personnel in an operation that lasted for over 80 hours. Endit