Terrorists or Thieves? Conflicting Reports on Gujarat Infiltrators

It was earlier reported that three out of ten infiltrators were allegedly killed on Pakistan NSA’s tip-off.

Pakistan expresses “deep concern” about India’s plans to construct a wall along the LoC allegedly to convert it “into a quasi international border”. (Photo: Reuters)

To everyone’s surprise, it was being reported that Pakistan helped India kill three out of ten terrorists who were planning a 26/11-style attack on religious processions and gatherings during Maha Shivrati in Gujarat.

But the nine men – initially suspected to be the infiltrators by intelligence agencies – turned out to be ATM robbers from Jharkhand, according to Hindustan Times.

Intelligence agencies and Gujarat police have dismissed purported home ministry official claims that three of ten terrorists having infiltrated from Pakistan were killed in a western state on the basis of a March 5 tip-off by Pakistani national security adviser Naseer Janjua to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.

<i>Hindustan Times</i> <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/pakistan-militants-who-triggered-gujarat-alert-not-killed-atm-thieves-caused-false-alarm/story-KtijlRyiMibjAGy4wnJnMN.html">Report </a>on 17 March 2016

In fact, none of those terrorists have been ‘traced or eliminated even as border states are on alert’ according to the report

Just a day before, on March 16, The Indian Express had reported that,

Acting on an unprecedented alert from Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Naseer Khan Janjua, India has “neutralised” three of the 10 terrorists suspected to have crossed the border to carry out an attack in Gujarat during <i>Maha Shivratri.</i>

On March 5, Ajit Doval received a call from his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Khan Janjua, informing him that ‘ten terrorists belonging to banned outfits had crossed over to India through the Gujarat border a day or two before’.

The tip-off led authorities to order a massive mobilisation of state police, rush four National Security Guard teams to Gujarat and sound a multi-city alert.

<i>The Indian Express </i><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/alert-in-india-pathankot-attack-security-india-acts-on-pak-nsas-tip-off-kills-3-terrorists-home-official/">Report</a>