Claiming to have fully cracked the case of the March 13 fidayeen attack on a CRPF camp, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said it would likely submit the challan under the normal crime of murder against a Pakistani militant of Lashkar-e-Taiba and two local “collaborators” in a court here any time this week.
Mohammad Zubair alias Talha (26) of Multan (Pakistan), who was captured by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Srinagar District Police from his hideout on March 14, as also both the alleged collaborators — Bashir Ahmad Mir of Uri and Parandeep Singh of Baramulla — will be produced at a local court, along with the final charge sheet in a week.
“Yes, we have arrested all the three actors, seized the vehicle used in the crime and completed the investigation fully,” a top-ranking official of the J&K Police confirmed to The Hindu on Sunday. “We have cracked this case in less than one hundred hours.”
He said the detained Pakistani militant would face the charge of murder and the two Kashmiris would be prosecuted for their collaboration in the crime. Five CRPF men had died and 10 others were injured in the broad daylight assault in which two of the LeT’s militants also got killed.
The official source revealed that Mir, who functioned as the guide and facilitated the LeT group’s infiltration into Kashmir Valley through Uri, had admitted to his connections to both — the militants as well as the armed forces. For the infiltration of each militant, he used to receive payment of Rs.1,00,000 out of which he retained Rs.30,000 as his “launching charges.” The rest of the amount would be given to the militant to meet the routine expenditure after his arrival in the Valley.
At least on one occasion, the militants fidayeens are known to have stayed at the house of Mir’s father-in-law at Tankipora, close to the Civil Secretariat, J&K Legislature Complex, J&K High Court Complex besides the offices of Inspector General of Police and Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir. However, Talha was captured alive from Mir’s house at Rampura Chhattabal, about a mile from the CRPF camp at Bemina. He laid down his loaded pistol after he found himself physically caught and the two SOG commandos fired bursts of AK gunfire into the ceiling of his room.
The investigation revealed that Mir took the three militants in his own car into Srinagar from Tangmarg area of Baramulla district on March 12. They stayed at a hideout in Srinagar for the night. Next morning, Mir dropped them outside the CRPF camp situated on the premises of J&K Police Public School. As they went in to carry out the fidayeen assault, Mir drove their “commander” back to Chhattabal and arranged his staying there for another night.
“As of now, the only perplexing question is how Bashir [Mir] used to cross the LoC through Uri in an area which is dotted by security forces and under round-the-clock surveillance. Even a guest from a different village is supposed to make entry in the registers of security forces,” said another official.
He said that Mir’s claim of “close liaison” with the armed forces was being verified, though the investigation was already complete.
