This has added credibility to the suspicion that infiltrators who attacked the Pathankot-based Indian Air Force (IAF) station in the wee hours of Friday may have crossed the IB through the Ugh riverine, a senior official here said.
Security agencies have found shoeprints near the Ugh river on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan, sources in the security establishment in New Delhi said on Wednesday.
This has added credibility to the suspicion that infiltrators who attacked the Pathankot-based Indian Air Force (IAF) station in the wee hours of Friday may have crossed the IB through the Ugh riverine, a senior official here said.
A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Delhi has been dispatched to look into the circumstances and possible lapses on the IB under which the infiltration may have happened.
The source, however, said it couldn't be confirmed if the imprints suggested the shoe brand to be EPCOT, a popular Pakistani brand which the Pathankot airbase attackers are said to have worn.
The security agencies are reconstructing the attack and in the process tracing the terrorists' journey from the airbase back to the IB.
It is here that the shoeprints will serve as significant clues, said the source.
Indian agencies are looking into the fact that riverine gaps, over half-a-dozen of which exist along the IB on Ugh and Tarna rivers, could be where the terrorists crossed over from into India.
In Punjab, IB stretches close to 550 kilometres. The riverine areas of Sutlej and Ravi are not fenced unlike the remaining stretch.
Besides the riverines, the IB stretch in the region is also being checked for any underground tunnel through which the infiltration may have happened. In 2001, a 135-yard underground tunnel was found on the IB in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.
The IB is manned by the Border Security Force.
Meanwhile, combing operations at the Pathankot airbase continued for the fifth day on Wednesday.
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