SRINAGAR: Captured Pakistani Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant Mohammad Naved alias Usman Khan has started spilling the beans on how he had sneaked into the country, his stay in the Valley and the attack on the BSF convoy.
He will be taken to the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir to identify the place through which he infiltrated from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Sources privy to the investigations said they want to ascertain the modus operandi being used by the militants. He may also be taken to New Delhi for further questioning by the NIA. “After his arrest, Naved has been giving conflicting statements. He told the interrogators on Thursday that he infiltrated from Tangmarg sector in Kashmir some 45 days ago,” sources said.
They said Naved was quizzed by a team of police and intelligence officials at the Joint Interrogation Centre in Jammu on Thursday. “The NIA team led by IG Sanjeev Kumar Singh was also present during his interrogation. Naved told interrogators that he along with three other militants infiltrated from Tangmarg sector after choosing the sector carefully. He said they had cut up the LoC fencing and managed to reach Baba Reshi area and spent few days there,” sources said.
They said he told interrogators that they were introduced by their guide to LeT commander Hamza, who assisted them in boarding and lodging. “Naved further said they were shifted to Awantipora, Pulwama, Kulgam and Anantnag, where again their boarding and lodging were looked after by the LeT commander,” sources said.
They said he told them that at Khudwani, Kulgam, a top LeT commander briefed them on the mission. “He told us to attack the convoy of security forces at Udhampur on Srinagar-Jammu highway”.
“After his briefing, four of us split into two groups. Noman and myself headed to Udhampur and another group set off in some other direction,” Naved told interrogators, adding that the two of them travelled to Udhampur on board a truck.
He told his interrogators that the truck driver dropped them off at Udhampur and they waited for their target there. “We let the Army and the CRPF vehicles pass by and attacked the BSF vehicle after sighting it. Noman attacked it from front and I targeted it from the hillock. Our aim was that one of us would enter the vehicle and kill all the security men and if possible take some hostages also,” he told the interrogators.
“He said he had undergone 21 days of basic combat training and three months advance combat training in handling of weapons in LeT’s Muridkee and Muzaffarabad camps respectively.
“We are not sure at this point of time whether the arrested militant and his accomplice has any links with the militants involved in Gurdaspur attack. So far he has not revealed anything which can link him with Gurdaspur attacks,” they said.