The Hindu : Front Page : Militants’ target was Baglihar power project

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Monday, Jul 13, 2009
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Militants’ target was Baglihar power project

A secret tunnel is also being dug from Sialkot to connect Pakistan occupied Kashmir with Jammu and Kashmir

PHOTOS: Nissar Ahmad

LeT militants Mohammad Adnan (left) and Mohammad Shafakat being produced at a news conference in an Army garrison in Kupwara, 90 km north of Srinagar, on Sunday. The Army said the two were arrested during an operation in a forested area in north Kashmir. —

Srinagar: At least 15 terrorists are being trained in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to target the 450 MW Baglihar power project in Jammu and Kashmir. A secret tunnel is also being dug from Sialkot to connect PoK with the State, two arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba militants told journalists on Sunday .

“At least 15 terrorists are being specially trained in PoK for an attack on Baglihar dam across [the] Chenab at Chanderkote-Ramban, 150 km from here,” said Mohammad Shafakat and Mohammad Adnan, the two LeT militants arrested on Saturday from the forests of the Shamashabari range in the frontier district of Kupwara, 120 km from here.

The Baglihar power project in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir hit the headlines last year when Pakistan raised objections, claiming that it would obstruct flow of water into that country as the size of the dam was beyond the normal size.

However, the issue was resolved with an international court of arbitration asking India to decrease the height of the dam by 1.5 meters.

Under the Indus Water Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in the 1960s, the waters of rivers in Jammu and Kashmir are to flow into Pakistan without interruption, and the State is barred from constructing dams to store water.

Secret tunnel

The militants , both residents of Chinchawatni tehsil in Sahiwal district of Punjab in Pakistan, also said that a secret tunnel, probably completed by now, was being dug from Sialkot to connect PoK with Jammu and Kashmir .

“I have worked for at least ten days in the tunnel before I crossed over to this side,” Shafakat said.

“By now it must have been completed.”

He said that after completing their training in a militant camp near Muzaffarbad, the capital of PoK, they infiltrated into India through the Lipa valley, to carry out attacks on Indian security forces.

“We were told that [a] task would be given after linking up with other LeT militants already in Kashmir,” Shafakat said.

The duo said they became militants because they were told that Kashmiri Muslims were not being allowed to practice their religion.

Misguided by mentors

However, after interacting with locals in the upper reaches on their arrival, they realised that they had been misguided by their mentors in Pakistan as all religious activities were taking place freely in Jammu and Kashmir.

Both said they had undergone a three-months training to handle arms, ammunition and grenades.

“We were asked to carry out fidayeen (suicide) attacks on [an] Indian army camp should our mission fail.”

Army personnel, who arrested the two ultras, said two AK 47 rifles, a pistol with seven magazines, ammunition, grenades, global positioning systems, two radio sets, water bottles and other material were recovered from them. — PTI

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