Masood Azhar in "protective custody" in Pak: Sartaj Aziz

New Delhi, Feb 22: Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, named by India as the mastermind of the Pathankot attack, has been under "protective custody" since January 14, Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz has said.

He also said it was for India to decide on dates for Foreign Secretary-level talks, postponed in the wake of the terror strike. Aziz said a Special Investigation Team from Pakistan may visit Pathankot in the first few days of March to probe the attack and that his country was pursuing the investigation seriously.

He said one of the mobile phone numbers linked to the attackers was traced to the terror group's headquarters in Pakistan's Bahawalpur and called the lodging of the FIR in connection with the Pathankot assault as a "logical and positive step" in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Aziz told Karan Thapar of India Today that Azhar, along with a few other operatives of the JeM, has been kept under protective custody and that some of the terror outfit's premises have also been sealed. He said action will follow against Azhar and others the moment evidence becomes available.

This is for the first time a top functionary of the Pakistan government has confirmed that Azhar is in custody in that country though there were earlier reports to that effect. Aziz said the FIR filed four days back in the Pathankot attack case has created legal basis for a Special Investigation Team of Pakistan to visit India to collect evidence. He said India has agreed to the SIT visit.

Asked about Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar's comment that SIT will not be allowed to go inside the IAF base in Pathankot, Aziz said access to crime scene always helps the investigators.

On holding of the Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries, Aziz said the "ball is in India's court". "The answer to it lies entirely with India," he said, adding he hoped prime ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif will meet on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington next month.

Pakistani authorities had lodged an FIR in connection with the Pathankot attack on February 18, without naming Azhar. The FIR was filed against "unknown persons" after weeks of probe into the terror assault that had led to the postponement of Foreign Secretary-level talks. It was registered at Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) centre in Gujranwala, Punjab province.

PTI