Pathankot attack: Interpol issues RCN against Shahid Latif

Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice against Shahid Latif, Pakistan-based handler of Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists who had attacked Pathankot Air Force base on the intervening night of January 1-2.

CBI which is the nodal body for Interpol affairs in India has also forwarded the request for issuing RCN against Kashif Jaan, another handler, also, the sources said, adding an Interpol Red Corner notice was expected to be issued against him soon.

The requests were made by National Investigation Agency which is probing the Pathankot attack case.

Kashif Jaan and Shahid Latif are alleged to be the handlers of the JeM terrorists who had infiltrated India on the intervening night of December 30-31 and attacked the airforce later.

The warrants were issued on the basis of evidence presented by the NIA before a Special court in Chandigarh which included telephonic conversation between the terrorists and the Jaish handlers like Jaan and Latif.

Latif had spent over a decade in Indian prison before he was deported to Pakistan after completion of his sentence in the country.

Interpol had earlier this week issued a Red Corner Notice against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf in connection with the Pathankot attack on the strategic IAF base.

The video of Rauf was also presented before the court. In the video, which was uploaded on a website in Pakistan, Rauf had claimed responsibility for the attack and complimented his boys for it. The video was later removed and the website also vanished.

NIA had sought voice samples of mastermind and JeM Chief Maulana Masood Azhar and three others from Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which came to India for probing the Pathankot attack.

India had pitched for banning Azhar at the UN but the move was vetoed by China. Pakistan, after the return of the JIT in the first week of April, has not replied to various letters rogatory seeking legal assistance in probing the Pathankot attack.