JeM role not ruled out: Rajnath Singh

As terrorists attacked Pathankot early on Saturday, Union home minister Rajnath Singh did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in the attack and said India would hit back hard if there is any terror strike on its soil.

“Pakistan is our neighbouring country. We want good relations with not just Pakistan but with all our neighbours. We also want peace but if there is any terror attack on India, we will give a befitting reply. We will hit hard,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of JeM’s involvement in the attack, Mr Singh said such a possibility cannot be ruled out. “The case will be probed by the NIA but the possibility of JeM being behind the attack cannot be ruled out,” he said.

The home minister said there were intelligence inputs about possible terror attacks in Punjab and steps were taken which helped avert higher casualties.

“There were some inputs and hence there was caution. We have exercised caution. If we had not taken steps, there could have been bigger damage,” he added.

“The country is proud of our security forces and our jawans,” he said.

Heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists had attempted to storm the Air Force base at Pathankot, triggering a day-long gunbattle in which three securitymen and five infiltrators were killed, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise stopover in Lahore to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.