J&K police officer had 'taken money' to help militants

Jammu and Kashmir police officer Davinder Singh, who was arrested on Saturday with three militants, had taken money from the Hizbul Mujahideen ultras for giving them safe passage to Chandigarh or New Delhi to possibly carry an attack on January 26, sources revealed.

They said Singh, a decorated officer, was on the radar of his superiors since past one year for his 'suspicious activities' and in the coming days, the investigations of the case could be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

“He (Singh) fell into money trap of militants and ensured the safe passage to Hizbul ultras, including the outfit’s district commander from Shopian Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu, who is also police deserter, to Chandigarh or New Delhi, where they were planning to carry attacks on the eve of Independence Day,” sources said.

A senior police officer privy to the investigations said that the arrested officer had sheltered the three militants in his Srinagar home before transporting them out of Kashmir when he was caught on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

“He (Singh) was on our radar for quite some time and on Saturday, we are able to track him down along with Hizbul militants when they were heading towards Jammu,” he said and added the officer, who was awarded President's Police Medal for Gallantry just six months ago, had transported Naveed Babu multiple times to different places.

Interestingly, the arrested officer was on duty for ensuring security cover to the foreign envoys of 16 countries who visited Srinagar last week. The arrested officer's links with one of the most wanted militant Babu is about to open a can of worms.

Babu was behind the killing of truck divers, non-local labourers and apple traders in south Kashmir post-August 5 to stop apple trade.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar on Sunday said that multiple security agencies will interrogate Singh for his role. The IGP had also said that Singh will be treated as a militant.

Singh, who worked with Special Operations Group of J&K police faced controversy when Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, in a letter, named him. Before his execution in February 2013, Afzal Guru had claimed that Singh had asked him to accompany a parliament attack accused to Delhi and arrange his stay there.

The IGP Kashmir, however, said they have no record linking him to parliament attack.