Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 12: Unabated intrusions by former militants from Nepal-Uttar Pradesh border have been becoming “potential security threat”, according to the Intelligence agencies. However, the militants, or former militants, continued to infiltrate into Indian territory using Nepal border as four more Kashmir militants last night intruded into this side from Sonauli border in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh along with their wives and children, totaling 18.
The former militants and their family members had taken the similar route, which the previously entered militants had taken, by flying to Kathmandu in Nepal from port city of Karachi in Pakistan and then sneaking into Gorakhpur from Nepal.
The SSB intercepted the group of 18 persons including four militants, five women and nine children and arrested them after they disclosed that the belonged to Kashmir. Of five Pakistani women, four were wives of the militants and nine their children.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the militants and their family members were arrested at Nountawan in Sonauli border area of Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh. They were quizzed at Kunserva Safe House and then handed over to CID Cell of Jammu and Kashmir Police in New Delhi.
Sources said the CID Cell of J&K Police would interrogate the militants and their Pakistani family members before handing over them to Srinagar police, where they would be booked under the law.
Four arrested militants have been identified as Sanaullah Dar of now defunct `Muslim Janbaaz Force’ (MJF), a resident of Baramulla, Farooq Ahmed Malla, Mushtaq Ahmed Dar and Mohammad Shakeel Shah, all from Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.
Sources said Sanaullah Dar and Mohammad Shakeel Shah had crossed over to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 1990 from Kupwara while Farooq Ahmed Malla had exfiltrated to other side of the Line of Control (LoC) in 1996 and Mushtaq Ahmed Dar in 1999.
The family members of Sanaullah Dar, who infiltrated with him, were Imrana Parveen, his Pakistani wife Malika Kashmeen and son Imaan. The family of Mohammad Shakeel Shah, a resident of Sopore, comprised his Pakistani wife Uzma Shaffi and Adil Shah while the family of Farooq Ahmed Malla, a resident of Sopore, included his Pakistani wife Nausheen Sarwar, Noor-ud-Hudda, Siratal Mujtaba, and Ahmed Allah-ud-Din.
The family of Mushtaq Ahmed Dar of Kupwara included his wife Nabita Shahjaat, Shaliq Mushtaq and Shareem Mushtaq. Along with them, a Pakistani woman, Wusra Gohar of Moori, Rawalpindi also sneaked into this side. The militants had two unnamed infants with them.
Sources said the militants after their infiltration to PoK and Pakistan had undergone training in handling of arms and explosives in Muzaffarabad, the capital city of PoK. They remained in the training camps for more than two years. Sources added that the militant commanders made several attempts to push all four trained militants into Kashmir but didn’t succeed due to different reasons.
Later, the militants said they managed to slip from the training camps, mixed up with local population, started working in local shops and factories and got married to the local girls. They were putting up in rented accommodation.
The militants said they paid a hefty amount to some agents to get passports and visas for them and their family members for Nepal and flew to Kathmandu from Karachi. From Kathmandu, they travelled up to Uttar Pradesh border in local transport and entered into India.
The influx of militants held up in Pakistan and PoK to return to Jammu and Kashmir via Nepal border had started soon after the State Government announced Rehabilitation Policy for the militant, which had the nod of the Union Home Ministry.
However, the Rehabilitation Policy had prescribed four routes for return of the militants including Poonch-Rawlakote in Jammu, Uri-Muzaffarabad in Kashmir, Wagah border in Amritsar district of Punjab and Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi.
Though more than 350 militants and their family members have returned from Pakistan and PoK after the announcement of Rehabilitation Policy, none of them had taken the route prescribed in the Rehabilitation Policy.
Meanwhile, Intelligence agencies have already cautioned that large scale influx of the militants, or former militants, could pose potential security threat in the days to come as there were reports that some of them could be re-cycled into the militancy.
Also, there was a possibility that some of the militants might have the backing of Pakistani agencies in their return to Kashmir as it was not an easy task to get visa and passport in Pakistan for flying to Nepal.
Only last week, four Kashmiri militants had returned to Kashmir from the same route.
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