URI: Two maps denoting landmarks and general topography of Uri – including the army base – were found on the bodies of the four fidayeen terrorists who attacked the camp on Sunday.
The maps showed various places of Uri, including the Brigade Headquarters and other installations in the town, about 75 km north of Srinagar. The place is strategically important in view of the power project operated by National Hydel Power Corporation (NHPC).
The maps will be studied as part of inquiry which is being handled by the National Investigating Agency (NIA).
Army, official sources said, have intensified its operation in the area to identify the route taken by the terrorists. It has also contacted the heads of 12 villages located above the Brigade headquarters to ascertain if they could throw some light on the infiltration, the sources said, before adding that this was a part of domination drill being conducted by the army along the Line of Control (LoC).
Initial investigations showed the fidayeens had infiltrated 12 to 18 hours before the strike. Also, the post mortem revealed that they had shaved the hair on their bodies – a trait of fidayeens- hours before the attack.
Investigators suspect that the terrorist would have passed by Charunda-Gollalhan access. Charunda village is on the LoC. Gollalhan, another village, is situated next to the Brigade headquarters.
The army is also conducting operations in various villages, especially along the LoC, to ascertain whether the terrorists had taken shelter there before reaching the army camp at Uri.
Both villages have a combined household of 603 and a population of less than 4,000.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has handed to NIA the call details and internet data usage of all active cellphones and broadband connections in Uri town for the period of 24 hours prior to daring attack on the army base, the sources said.
The NIA team, which arrived in Uri on Tuesday, today finished the documentation process which includes seizure of the arms, ammunition and other articles.
The NIA along with technical experts from other security agencies have also been trying to retrieve data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) that have been found on the terrorists.
The NIA team would prepare a dossier and may make a formal request to Pakistan once the identity of the four terrorists is ascertained.
The army has also instituted an inquiry into the attack with preliminary investigation suggesting the terrorists had entered the area at least a day before mounting the attack.
The inquiry besides ascertaining lapses, if any, would also suggest measures to prevent such attacks in the future as Pakistani-based groups were indulging more in “shallow infiltration”, which means that terrorists strike the first available installation after crossing the LoC.
As many as 18 soldiers were killed in Uri in one of the worst attacks on the army in two decades.
PTI