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IAF And Indian Army Asked To Pin-Point Personnel Responsible For Pathankot Airbase, Uri Brigade And Nagrota Attacks

Government wants responsible personnel scalped.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is resubmitting its Court-of-Inquiry findings into the Pathankot Airbase terror-attack. It will now pin-point officers and their lapses. And, the Indian Army too has been asked to point lapses of officers in the probe on Uri Brigade and Nagrota terror - attack, top sources have told Huffington Post India.

This comes after Manohar Parrikar, who recently quit as Defence Minister, asked the Army and the IAF to point at specifics, top government sources have told Huffington Post India.

"Very rarely" does the government send such advice, former Vice-Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal P K Barbora said.

"Very rarely" does the government send such advice, former Vice-Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal P K Barbora said. Findings of the forces are generally accepted, he said.

In a first of its kind attack, Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists entered the Pathankot air base on the 2 January, 2016. The Pathankot airbase is a forward airbase. Fighter jets and attack helicopters are positioned at the base. At least 4 terrorists and 8 soldiers were killed in the operation that ended on 5 January.

Just a week before this terror-attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a bold step and had visited Lahore on 25 December, 2015 when returning from Kabul. India-Pakistan relations that then showed signs of revival suffered a major blow because of the attack.

Nine months later, on 18 September, four terrorists stormed the Army's 12 Infantry Brigade located close to the India- Pakistan boundary along the 1972 agreed Line of Control (LoC) in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 19 soldiers lost their lives, and several others were injured in the attack. In retaliation, Indian commandos crossed the LoC to kill an unknown number of terrorists and Pakistan army soldiers, and destroyed as many as seven terror launch pads and Pakistan army facilities. India –Pakistan relations went into a deep freeze.

Soon after on 29 November, 2016, three Pakistan based terrorist impersonating as policemen attacked the Nagrota based 166 Field Regiment of the Army. Nine soldiers including two officers were killed in the attack.

The officer commanding Pathankot airbase during the attack, Air Commodore J S Dhamoon, was removed from command and shifted to Delhi months after the attack. Similarly, Brigadier K Somashankar, commander of the 12th Brigade, too was removed in what appeared to be a damage control exercise. "The officers were removed, but no one was scalped for lapses, and that is what the government is asking for," a top Ministry of Defence Official told Huffington Post India, on conditions of anonymity.

"The officers were removed, but no was scalped for lapses, and that is what the government is asking for," a top Ministry of Defence Official told Huffington Post India, on conditions of anonymity.

One of the two commanding officers, for instance, was then cleared for a prestigious course considered necessary for promotion to the next rank – i.e. Air-Vice Marshal or Major General. The Court-of-Inquiry findings into the two attacks, subsequently submitted to the Government, didn't fix responsibility.

Top sources confirmed that the Western Air Command that supervises the Pathankot air base is sending the Court-of-Inquiry back with a fresh set findings that fixes responsibility.

The Western Air Command that supervises the Pathankot air base is sending the Court-of -Inquiry back with a fresh set findings that fixes responsibility.

The Indian Air Force, India Army and Ministry of Defence did not respond to the queries of the Huffington Post India.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.