Author: Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: November 21, 2001
The Jammu and Kashmir police on
Wednesday claimed to have arrested a member of Jaish-e- Mohammed group
that carried out the lethal strike at the state assembly complex on October
1 this year, which killed 35 persons and injured 40 others.
Disclosing this to newsmen at the
heavily guarded state police control room Director General Of Police Jammu
and Kashmir A K Suri said the militant -- identified Firdaus Ahmad Shah
-- was arrested by the special operations group from Srinagar, the capital
of Jammu and Kashmir.
The JeM had, however, disowned the
responsibility for the attack, after initially owning responsibility for
the attack.
Giving details the DGP said, "As
per the statement of Firdaus, a top militant of the JeM identified as Qasim
Bhai had brought an empty milk can to Shah's residence, where an improvised
explosive device was fitted. They later kept the milk can fitted with an
IED in a mosque, and on October 1, the IED fitted can was kept in a Tata
Sumo. Four foreign militants and one local activist drove the Sumo to Jehangir
Chowk, and later proceeded to the gate of the state assembly."
"At the gate, three militants in
police uniforms got down, while the fourth militant -- identified as Wajahat
Hussain -- rammed the Sumo laden with explosives into the gate."
"In the confusion following the
massive explosion, the three militants in police uniforms managed to gain
entry into the complex and fired indiscriminately killing the employees
of state assembly and the security forces," the statement said.
Suri said Qasim Bhai was killed
by a patrol party of the BSF near Dewan Bagh area of Srinagar.
The DGP also said that in another
major achievement the SOG smashed Al-Badr network in central Kashmir by
killing its chief commander Haiz alias Dr Nayeem, a Pakistani national
and Syed Talha Ahmed another militant of the outfit.
"We have smashed a number of hideouts
of the Al Badr outfit and arrested 13 activists of the outfit," Suri said.
He also welcomed Hizbul Mujaheedin
statement that the outfit favoured a political solution to the Kashmir
problem.
