PAK REFUSES TO ACCEPT BODY OF INTRUDER KILLED IN PATHANKOT

PATHANKOT/JAMMU: Pakistani authorities refused on Saturday to accept the body of a suspected intruder who was shot dead by India’s border guards in Punjab’s Pathankot district, officials said.

The rebuff by Pakistan Rangers, which guards the country’s borders, is seen as its refusal to acknowledge the suspected intruder’s Pakistani citizenship, officials said.

Border Security Force (BSF) had called a “flag meeting” with Pakistan Rangers on Saturday to hand over the body.

Pakistani currency, a cigarette packet, a matchbox and a soft drink pouch were found on the slain intruder, said Pathankot senior superintendent of police Rakesh Kaushal.

“We have sent the body for post-mortem as the other side has refused to take it,” he added.

Officials said two more infiltrators may have gone back after coming under heavy fire.

The intruder was shot dead near the Tinda border outpost in Bamyal sector, the same area through which Pakistanbased militants had crossed over to attack the air force base in Pathankot and later a police station in Dinanagar, according to the National Investigation Agency. (NIA)

Security forces launched a search operation on Friday after a speech-impaired man claimed to have seen suspected militants on the Punjab-Himachal border.

INCIDENT TOOK PLACE IN BAMYAL SECTOR, THE AREA THROUGH WHICH MILITANTS HAD CROSSED OVER TO ATTACK THE PATHANKOT AIR BASE