NIA chief to quiz captured Pak militant

NIA chief Sharad Kumar will personally interrogate LeT's Pakistani militant Mohammed Naved Yakub, captured after Wednesday's attack on a BSF convoy, who was today remanded in the custody of the anti-terror agency by a Jammu court.

Kumar will be visiting Jammu tomorrow and lead the interrogation team. While refusing to share any details of the probe so far, Kumar told PTI the purpose of his visit is to ascertain the progress made in the investigation.

"It's a very important case for us and the entire probe is being done in a scientific manner," Kumar, who will also visit the scene of the encounter in Udhampur district that left two BSF personnel and a terrorist dead, said.

Meanwhile, a special court in Jammu handed over Naved's custody to the Central agency for 14 days.

The special NIA judge was requested to open the court at 7 this morning to avoid any rush following apprehensions that the terrorist, in his early 20s, could be eliminated by Lashkar-e-Taiba to destroy evidence of Pakistani involvement in the terror attack.

The militant, a resident of Faislabad in Pakistan, was produced before the court under tight security.
Sources in the agency, which sought Naved's custody for deepening its probe, said he could be sent to Delhi for further questioning.

NIA, which took over the case last week, has booked him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for waging war against the nation, besides provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act.

NIA and Jammu and Kashmir Police have been questioning nearly 11 people detained after Naved was caught by some villagers whom he had taken hostage.

The truck driver, who ferried Naved and his accomplice Mohammed Noman alias Momin to Udhampur, and a businessman who is alleged to have paid Rs five lakh to the terrorist and his handler, have been missing and a manhunt has been launched to apprehend them. Noman was killed in retaliatory firing by BSF during Wednesday's attack.

NIA sources said sustained questioning of Naved was required as he was changing statements frequently and had given four different accounts of the route he and his accomplices took to infiltrate India.

Naved, who has undergone two modules of training with LeT, is being considered a hardened militant who is trying to confuse his interrogators, a tactic apparently aimed at buying time for his other accomplices, who were part of the group that had sneaked into India and are missing, to slip away, the sources said.