In what appears to be a change of tactics by militants operating across camps in Jammu and Kashmir and their handlers there, the Army sources said here that intercepts suggest that Lashkar-e-Taiba sought to spread disinformation about those behind Friday's blast in Srinagar and seeking to blame Hindutva fundamentalist groups for it.
Sources in the Army said in an intercepted message between an LeT spokesperson, identified as Abdulla Ghaznavi in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and a person in Jammu and Kashmir, the latter was directed to spread the message that the blast was the handiwork of the Hindutva fundamentalists and that more such acts would follow.
Under pressure
Prominent religious leader and chief of the Jamiat-e-Ahlihadith, Moulvi Showkat Ahmad Shah, was killed in the blast.
The sources said the intercepts showed that the militant outfits in camps across the border were under pressure from their ISI handlers to carry out such a campaign and also change tactics by launching coordinated infiltration bids across the Line of Control.
Advent of summer, the sources said, was usually the time when infiltration bids were made from across the border. However, the multi-tier security cordon to foil such attempts had resulted in growing frustration.
The intercepts also indicated that those responsible for running camps across the border were exerting pressure on militant groups to launch such bids in unison.
Foiled infiltration bids
Last year 31 infiltration bids were foiled and 40 terrorists killed, while in the hinterland, the Army killed over 200 terrorists and apprehended 62.