Terror attack claims 2 BSF jawans, Pak terrorist held

Yet another terror attack suspected to be originating from Pakistan left two BSF constables dead on the crucial Jammu-Srinagar highway in north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, but one of the two <g data-gr-id="39">Lashker</g>-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists involved was captured alive like Ajmal Kasab in the 2008 Mumbai terror strike.

Mohammed Naved, <g data-gr-id="55">resident</g> of Ghulam Mustafabad area in <g data-gr-id="40">Faislabad</g> town of Pakistan, along with another terrorist Noman alias Momin, fired at a BSF convoy on the highway at Simroli around 8 am. Border SecurityForce (BSF) jawans retaliated killing Noman while Naved managed to escape towards a village in the nearby hills where he took three <g data-gr-id="54">villagers</g> hostage.

The villagers managed to capture him and call the police who took him into custody, giving the Indian security establishment a prize catch which points to Pakistani involvement in the attack. Wednesday’s attack came a week after the terror strike in Gurdaspur by three Pakistanis in which they and seven Indians were killed.

During sustained interrogation, Naved, in his early 20s, changed his name several times. First he said he was Kasim Khan but then changed it to Usman before stating that he was actually Mohammed Naved, whose family includes two brothers and a sister.

Naved disclosed that he along with four other terrorists had entered Kupwara district in the Kashmir Valley a month ago on a similar terror mission but had crossed back into Pakistani-occupied-Kashmir because they could not make headway.

The captured terrorist presented a strange picture before <g data-gr-id="38">televisioncameras</g> smiling a few times and answering questions calmly telling reporters, “it’s fun doing this”. Had he been killed it would have been “the Allah’s doing”, he said.

Giving details of the incident, Inspector General of Police (Jammu) Danish Rana said the militants hurled grenades and opened indiscriminate fire on the convoy when it reached <g data-gr-id="37">Nassu</g> belt on its way from Jammu to Srinagar.

As many as 11 BSF personnel were injured in the attack and they were shifted to hospitals in Jammu and the army hospital in nearby Udhampur, which is the headquarters of Northern Command. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that there was no link between the attack and Amarnath pilgrims passing the area.

A convoy carrying Amarnath pilgrims had already crossed the area on the highway when the militants attacked the BSF convoy.