Pathankot Attack: The Curious Case of Salwinder Singh
How did a senior police officer get ensnared in one of the biggest attacks on an Indian military base?
On the intervening night of 31 December and 1 January, Gurdaspur SP Salwinder Singh, his jeweller-friend Rajesh Verma and cook, Madan Gopal were abducted when gunmen took the policeman’s official car at gunpoint.
They were released soon after though, but the assailants kept the car to enter the Pathankot air base and launch an unprecedented attack.
Since then, the ‘shaken-up’ SP has spoken to the media and tried to clear the air about his encounter with the militants. But his statements on the fateful night don’t seem to add up.
The Quint has highlighted some inconsistencies in Singh’s statements. You can read them here and here.
Here, we present Singh’s claims and our counter-questions for him.
Why was the SP, a senior police officer, in his official vehicle without security or weapons?
How did the militants spare the SP since they seemed to have hijacked the official vehicle to be able to make a smooth entry into the air force base?
Singh made the call to his colleagues and informed them about the incident.
The Punjab police allegedly did not take him seriously because of his record. Singh has been accused of sexual harassment by constables.
How is it possible that a trained police officer did not know how many people attacked him?
Salwinder Singh recounts his abduction in this video.
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