NEW DELHI: It was the United States that alerted India through intelligence channels on Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists sneaking into Pathankot . And that was possible because foreign agencies had Qasim Jaan, one of the three Pak-based handlers of Jaish-e-Mohammed, under its surveillance.JeM is among the few groups that had developed links with the Al Qaida and Taliban close to a decade ago and since then, has been on US radar for its activities in Afghanistan and later even in Pakistan . Lashkar-e-Toiba, on the other hand, is largely seen as India-centric terror group though the Headley case and the 26/11 attacks have completely transformed its status as among the most potent terror outfits. In the instant case, “chatter” was picked at Qasim’s end on a possible terror attack in India.This information was immediately passed on to India, prompting the government to issue an alert just after the PM’s December 25 visit to Lahore. Though Qasim was known to be from JeM, there was still doubt on whether reference was being made on some other group planning an attack or was it a JeM module being sent on the job.Since JeM has not carried out any major attack in India in recent past, sources told ET that it was conjectured that the group was likely to be LeT . It has now turned out that Qasim was guiding the attackers over phone. India has named him along with Asfhaq Ahmed and Hafiz Abdul Shakur as the three ‘handlers’ and passed on the details to Pakistan for further action through the NSAs channel.The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will now seek an arrest warrant against Qasim and the other two handlers. A red corner notice will also be issued against the three, said an official. During the probe, the NIA has also lifted DNA samples from the two cars used by the terrorists that will be matched with the already preserved body tissues. “Once they are identified by Pakistan, we will try to verify them using these DNA samples,” said a senior NIA official.