Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency(NIA) on Friday arrested the truck driver who helped captured terrorist Mohammad Naved Yakub and his accomplice reach Udhampur.
Naved and his accomplice Mohammad Noman had targeted a Border Security Force convoy in Udhampur in which two security officials were killed. While Noman was killed by BSF troopers, Naved took three people hostage from a nearby village and fled into the forests where he was overpowered and captured by the villager and handed over to the security forces.
The truck driver had allegedly ferried Naved to Jammu on two occasions, including on August four, a day before he and his accomplice ambushed a BSF bus, killing two of its personnel. The driver, identified as Khursheed Ahmed alias 'Surya', said to be an overground operative of the banned LeT, is a resident of Awantipura.
The NIA sources said Khursheed had taken Naved and his accomplice Mohammed Noman alias Momin to Jammu on July 20 on a reconnaissance mission during which the timings of convoys of BSF and Army were marked.
The terrorists initially wanted to attack either of the convoys then and there but decided against it at the last minute and were ferried back to the Kashmir Valley, officials said.
Khursheed, 35, has already served a prison term of two-and-a-half years for alleged drugs smuggling and cases are registered against him for involvement in stone-pelting incidents in 2010 and 2011, they said.
Information about Khursheed was given by Naved, who is in Srinagar in NIA custody. The arrest was made by the NIA after receiving the go ahead from the anti-terror agency's chief Sharad Kumar, who was here to review the progress of the case.
NIA was handed over the Udhampur case on August seven, two days after Naved and Momin attacked a BSF convoy killing two personnel. Momin was killed in retaliatory fire. Naved was captured by locals whom he had held hostage.
Naved, trained at a lashkar-e-Toiba camp, has been giving conflicting statements about the strength of the group that infiltrated the state with him and the route taken by them, besides those with whom he came into contact in J&K.
The NIA also released sketched of two other terrorists who infiltrated into India from Pakistan along with Naved. Both of them are on the run.
The sketches were made on the basis of interrogation of arrested Pakistani terrorist Naved. According to sources, the four terrorists entered India from Pakistan in July. The two terrorists are Zargham alias Mohammad Bhai and Abu Okasha.
(with PTI inputs)
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