MHA hands over Jammu Air Force station attack case to NIA

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has handed over the Jammu Air Force station attack case to National Investigation Agency (NIA), officials said on Tuesday.

The NIA took over the case from Jammu and Kashmir Police which started initial probe along with other investigating agencies under the Explosives Act and other laws. The case was initially registered by Satwari police station.

The anti-terror agency formally took over the case after the MHA's permission. However, its officials had reached at the spot just a few hours after the blast took place.

For the first-of-its-kind terrorist attack in the country, two drones were used to drop bombs at vital military installation in India on the intervening night of June 26-27. Two consecutive explosions took place within a gap of five minutes at the high-security Jammu Air Force station, injuring two personnel on duty in the technical area. The drones later flew away.

The two back-to-back explosions, which occurred at 1.37 a.m. and 1.42 a.m., injured two Air Force personnel. The roof of a building was damaged, but the explosive devices missed the aircraft hangar nearby. No valuable equipment was damaged in the attack.

The Air Force Station is about 14-15 km from the nearest point on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan. The farthest that a drone from Pakistan has so far come on the Indian side of the IB and Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu region is 12 km.

Pakistan-based terrorists are suspected behind using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to attack the Air Force station, the officials said.

The attack on the Air Force Station took place a few hours after Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative with an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing nearly 5 kg in Jammu.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Sunday termed the twin explosion a 'terror attack'. (IANS)

Also Read: Two low intensity blasts at Jammu Air Force Station, use of drones suspected

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