Author: Muzamil Jaleel / Mir Ehsan
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 21, 2006
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/4857.html
A senior Congress legislator who was a minister
in the former Mufti-led coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir and his
brother have helped finance and smuggle into the Valley the biggest ever haul
of explosives last year, according to a confidential report of the Army's
Counter Intelligence Unit.
The report, obtained by The Sunday Express,
names former Congress minister and current MLA from Dooru (Anantnag) Ghulam
Ahmed Mir and his brother Iqbal Mir as being key to a well-knit militant ring
that smuggled 48 quintals of explosives from New Delhi's industrial explosive
market.
This material, J&K Director General of
Police Gopal Sharma had said, was used to manufacture improvised explosive
devices (IEDs) and car bombs especially after the flow from across the Line
of Control began to dry up.
This network was exposed after the 49 Rashtriya
Rifles arrested Sajjad Ahmad Malik alias Bitta Malik on August 17 last year.
A week later, the J&K police recovered 14 quintals of explosives from
the premises of a transport company in Srinagar and two explosives dumps in
warehouses in Anantnag.
Malik, a close aide of the Congress MLA, was
interrogated by the Army along with the explosives "courier" Bashir
Ahmad, a resident of Banihal in J&K and an employee of a transport company
based in New Delhi.
The Army's report said Congress MLA Mir and
his brother were both "Over Ground Workers (OGWs)" (Army's phrase
for those who actively help militants). And the MLA's "vehicle was used
for transporting the explosives and persons.'' Mir's brother, the report said,
is a ''close associate of Bitta Malik and had provided finances for procuring
explosives''.
Curiously, the Army handed over Malik to the
Dooru police immediately after his arrest. In the intervening night of August
19 and 20, Malik escaped from police custody. The Army's report claims that
Mir, then a junior Roads and Buildings Minister, "reportedly had influenced
and helped Bitta to escape from police custody."
Over the next few days, as the Army picked
up other people from Bitta Malik's gang-especially Bashir Ahmad-and cracked
the entire ring, Malik surrendered. Sources reveal that Congress legislator
Mir (who was then a minister) used his influence to speed up Malik's detention
under Public Safety Act so that no other agency would interrogate him and
thus avoid exposure of Mir's connection with the militants. How crucial Malik
was in the ring is evident in his interrogation statement to the J-K police.
Based on his leads alone, 15 militants were arrested and arms and ammunition
seized.
While the police report doesn't mention Mir
or his brother, the Army's report couldn't be clearer: "During February,
2004, subject (main courier Bashir) was told by Bitta Malik that he is opening
a factory to chemically treat dry fruits... in partnership with Iqbal brother
of present Congress MLA GA Mir.'' Bashir, the report said, also met Iqbal
Mir in Jammu in March, 2005.
Express, G A Mir said:
On links with Bitta Malik: He belongs to my
constituency, he voted for me. He was a surrendered militant who lived a normal
life. There are dozens of people like him who are with all political parties,
National Conference, PDP and Congess.
On Army's report that his vehicles were used
to transport explosives: When Bitta Malik attended my rallies and meetings,
not a single security agency warned me about his anti-national activities.
On Army's report that he helped Bitta escape
from police custody. "After he (Malik) was arrested, my block president
visited Dooru police station to ask about Malik only because he belonged to
my constituency. It's not our fault that he escaped. The police allowed him
to move around in the lawn at midnight. It was I who told his family that
he must surrender. Within three days, he surrendered."
muzamiljaleel@expressindia.com