Terror plot foiled in J&K; 3 including Pak soldier held

Srinagar: A major terror conspiracy was foiled in J&K with the arrest of three on Tuesday.

 The suspected terrorists belong to the Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit and all of them reportedly hail from Pakistan. One of the arrested is a regular soldier in the Pakistan Army.

The state Director General of Police Kuldeep Khuda told the press that the serving Pakistani Armyman is Ghulam Farid alias Gulshan Kumar, a sepoy in 10 Azad Kashmir regiment.

The top cop also apprised media that Farid had joined the Pakistan Army in 2001 and was detailed for terrorist activities in 2005. The others have been identified as Mohammad Abdullah belonging to Harpur in North West Frontier Province and Mohammed Imran, from Dera Nawab in Bawalpur.

Khuda added that preliminary interrogations have revealed that they had received specialised training in suicide attacks and driving exlposive-laden vehicles. He also informed that four &K militants may already have reached Kashmir as per the interrogation of these three.

The plan was to execute an attack similar to the Marriot hotel blasts in Pakistan with the intention of creating poll disturbance in the state. An explosives-laden vehicle was to be taken for blasts at crowded places. The consignment of ammunition was to be handed over to them locally by a guide whom they were waiting for in a Jammu hotel. Fortunately the guide was unable to reach there due to road blockage caused by weather conditions.

Interrogation so far has revealed that the suicide bombers had received training from IC-814 hijacker Masood Azhar’s brother in Karachi.

 Apparently, two ISI officers had provided them with passports to reach Bangladesh capital Dhaka after they underwent training in explosives in Khulna city of the country. Subsequently they crossed the Malda border and entered Indian territory on the 17th of this month.