Amid a rising chorus from the Opposition "to call Pakistan's bluff" by providing evidence of the 29 September pre-dawn strike on terror launch pads across the Line of Control, the Indian Express claims to have dug up fresh details about the raid, based on eyewitness accounts.
Bodies of the suspected terrorists killed were allegedly loaded onto trucks for secret burials, according to the Express report. Eyewitnesses on the Indian side of the border told the paper through an encrypted chat system that the fatalities might not be as high as reported, but in the hamlet of Dudhnial a building was seen gutted.
The eyewitnesses also recalled "brief but intense fire engagements" that destroyed buildings housing the terrorists.
Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam yesterday called the surgical strike fake. His party was quick to dissociate itself from the potentially controversial remark. But Congress has claimed that it has, in the past, made similar surgical strikes but they have not been made public in interest of national security.
"Indian National Congress disagrees completely from the statement of Sanjay Nirupam. It has taken a serious note", party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.
Kejriwal had "saluted" Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the surgical strikes but had urged the Centre to counter the smear campaign by Pakistan and international media.
The Express claims to have seen classified documents that suggest that the assault caught the Lashkar and other terrorist groups preparing for the final push into the Indian territory by surprise.
Pakistan recently flew international media to the Line of Control to prove that no Indian commando could have penetrated up to three kilometres into Pakistan-held territory as claimed by New Delhi. Pakistan has outright denied India's claim of surgical strike, saying that two of its soldiers were killed in cross-border fire.
(With PTI inputs)