Who was Shahid Latif, the Pathankot attack orchestrator killed in Pakistan?

An unidentified group of assailants gunned down Shahid Latif, one of the main orchestrators of the Pathankot attack of 2016 that claimed the lives of 7 security personnel. The 72-hour siege also left 25 injured, reported India Today.

Latif, 53, was affiliated with the banned terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) and was a prominent terrorist on India's list of wanted terrorists under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

His role

• Latif, sitting in Sialkot in Pakistan, provided logistical support to the four Pakistani terrorists and coordinated their movements. These terrorists were responsible for the attack on Pathankot Air Base in January 2016.
• According to India Today, he was also accused of hijacking an Indian Airlines aircraft (814) in Kandahar (Afghanistan), in 1999.

Who was Shahid Latif?

• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs data, Shahid Latif was a resident of Daska Tehsil in Sialkot District in Northern Punjab, Pakistan.
• The same gazette mentions his permanent address as More Aminabad, Gujranwala, Punjab.
• Shahid Latif was first arrested on November 12, 1994, in Jammu, on charges related to narcotics and terrorism, following which he was tried and jailed.
• After serving 16 years, he was later released from prison in 2010, along with 20 other terrorists who crossed the Wagah Border.
• According to the NIA, after going back to Pakistan, he joined terrorist modules and continued anti-India acts.

After the Pathankot attack, a team of Pakistani investigators were allowed by the Indian government to carry out investigations in Punjab's northernmost district, adjacent to the (then) state of Jammu and Kashmir.