Around 250 ultras yet to return from Pakistan

Around 250 former Kashmir militants, from a list of over 500 provided by the Jammu and Kashmir government, who have expressed their willingness to return from Pakistan are yet to come back.

Top officials from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which is guarding the Indo-Nepal border, said around 250 people, including militants and their families, have already crossed over to India in the last few months through check posts.

The list was prepared about six months ago by the Jammu and Kashmir Police which handed it over to the Union Home Ministry following a controversy over the arrest of former militant Liyaqat Ali Shah, who was returning to Kashmir this March to surrender.

The government also announced new procedures for crossing the border against the backdrop of a controversy over the arrest of a suspected militant on the frontier. The SSB has also deputed personnel, hailing from Kashmir and conversant in the language, to man locations where ex-militants reach to cross over to India.

“The Jammu and Kashmir government (state CID) has validated a list of such people and shared it with the Home Ministry. The SSB is the nodal authority to receive such people,” a senior official said.

SSB chief Arun Chaudhary, during an interaction with journalists before the 50th Raising Day celebrations of the force, refused to provide details about the procedures adopted in this regard.

“I can just say that this is a friendly border but we have seen in the last few years that some elements have started exploiting the frontier to carry out their nefarious designs in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. We are always alert,” he said.

According to official data provided by the SSB, a total of 21 groups of Kashmiri ex-militants returning from Pakistan were apprehended –19 groups at Sonauli in the Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh, one group at Jaynagar in the Madhubani district of Bihar and another at Rupaidiha in the Bahraiach district of Uttar Pradesh along the Indo-Nepal Border.

Chaudhury said the force has also decided to increase the border posts on the Indo-Nepal border to 539 by 2016, from the existing 466. Close to 3,000 additional personnel will also be deployed over a period of time to man these posts.