JOIN USOmar asks Delhi to speed up probe
Fearing serious repercussion after the controversial arrest of suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militant Liyaqat Shah by Delhi Police, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah requested Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Saturday to hand over the terror case to National Investigation Agency for a “time-bound speedy probe” to “establish facts”.
The Delhi police’s special cell claimed they had picked up Shah from Gorakhpur on charges of plotting a conspiracy to carry out fidayeen attack in the national capital. A bag containing AK-47 was separately found in a hotel which the police said was linked to a larger plot.
Inquiry by NIA
“I have spoken to him and asked for a speedy and time-bound probe by the NIA,” Omar Abdullah said.
Shinde is currently at his native state of Maharashtra.
Government sources said Omar’s father Farooq Abdullah, who is Union minister for renewable energy, too had spoken to top brass of the home ministry expressing his anger over Delhi police arresting Shah — who was bound from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) via Nepal to Kashmir to surrender along with his family.
He is said to be a part of the group of eight which was returning to its native place in Valley.
The whereabouts of other seven are still not known.
Abdullahs fears that the latest fiasco — caused by poor coordination between anti-terror agencies — has the potential of flaring up tension in the Valley, already simmering after hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Liyaqat’s family at Lalpura, Kupwara in North Kashmir said the intent of his surrender was expressed to the state and he was returning home from Pok following the promise of a rehabilitation policy.
The Sashastra Seema Bal which guards Indo-Nepal border is said to have tipped off the Delhi Police without being aware that the eight militants were returning under a discreet programme sponsored by the intelligence agency along with Jammu and Kashmir.
Another militant
Sources said that another HM militant Noor-ud-Deen who had surrendered along with his family on March 16 took the same route to reach his home in Kupwara.
The militants are returning to surrender arms as part of a covert operation being run by the Intelligence Bureau for past couple of years.
Last year, 22 militants were provided safe passage to return home via Nepal’s border in Uttar Pradesh.