Interpol issues fresh Red Corner Notice against Masood Azhar

Photo: AP

New Delhi: Interpol on Tuesday issued a fresh Red Corner Notice against chief of banned Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother Abdul Rauf in connection with the attack on IAF base in Pathankot.

The fresh Red Corner notice was issued after the NIA secured an 'open-ended' non-bailable warrant against Azhar and Rauf for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror strike on the strategic Indian Air Force base at Pathankot on the intervening night of January one and two.

Seven security personnel were killed and bodies of four terrorists were recovered from the scene of encounter which lasted nearly 80 hours.

The fresh Red Corner notice is being seen as a mere formality as Pakistan has not yet acted on the arrest warrants earlier issued against the two.

An Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) is already pending against 48-year-old Azhar for being allegedly involved in the conspiracy behind attacks on Parliament and Jammu and Kashmir state assembly. Similar warrant is pending against 41-year-old Rauf in connection with the IC-814 hijacking case of 1999.

The NIA had also moved in for issuance of RCN against two others -- Kashif Jaan and Shahid Latif -- in this case as they are alleged to be the handlers of the JeM terrorists who had infiltrated India on the intervening night of December 30-31.

The fresh 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.

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 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.