The lone terrorist captured after the attack on BSF convoy in Udhampur had made an attempt to enter the Kashmir Valley two months ago but retreated as he could not make any headway only to return a few days later from Baramulla successfully.
Official sources here identified him as Mohammed Naved Yakub, son of Mohammed Yakub from Faisalabad in Pakistan, who had entered Kupwara in North Kashmir last month in the company of four other terrorists but had to return as their guide did not turn up to receive them.
During interrogation, Naved disclosed that he along with four other terrorists had entered Kupwara district in the Kashmir Valley two months ago on a similar terror mission but
had crossed back into Pakistani-occupied-Kashmir because they could not make headway.
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Later, he along with three others had entered through Baramulla area by cutting the fencing.
During interrogation, he said that he had stayed at Tangmarg and Baba Reshi and
shifted their base to Awantipura-Pulwama where he remained inside a cave located on a hill side.
The group split into two and he along with Noman moved to Kulgam in South Kashmir from where they boarded a truck to Jammu Tuesday. They got down at Udhampur after staying at Patnitop for night.
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During Wednesday’s action he fired two magazines at the BSF convoy before fleeing and taking three villagers hostage, who overpowered him and captured him, according to a report submitted to Home Ministry.
He had undergone two types of training with Lashker-e- Taiba terror group, it said.
A resident of Ghulam Mustafabad (Faisalabad) in Pakistan, Naved, believed to be in early 20s, has two brothers and one sister. One of them is a lecturer while the other runs a
hosiery business.
Naved identified the fellow terrorist killed Wednesday in the retaliatory fire by BSF as Noman alias Momin, who hailed from Bhawalpur in Pakistan.
The duo carried out an attack on a BSF convoy at Simroli near Udhampur killing two constables. In the gun fight, Noman was killed while he managed to escape before being nabbed by the Village Defence Committee members, they said.
The rattled residents first fed Naved food when he said he was hungry. Later, when he sought help to escape from the village, the three men in the house pounced on him, grappled with him and overpowered him just as security forces had thrown a ring around the village.
“After we disarmed him, the militant begged us to let him go,” said one of the villagers who took hold of his AK-47.
He also pleaded: “Mujhe mat pakdo, mujhe mat pakdo.” (Don’t catch me.)
In no time, the frightened Pakistani, who was wearing a black shirt and trousers, was handed over to the security forces who led him away down the mountain path after securing him with a rope.
It was the first time that Indian security forces captured a Pakistani terrorist — after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Police officials said he was linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, which also carried out the deadly Mumbai attack that left 166 Indians and foreigners dead.
According to informed sources, the Pakistani terrorist confessed that their ultimate mission was to target the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. He added that 16 Pakistani terrorist modules were active in Jammu and Kashmir.
In New Delhi, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the incident. Amid indications that the Pakistani might be flown to New Delhi on Thursday, the home ministry said the ambush and capture would be probed by the National Investigation Agency.
It all began when two militants ambushed a BSF vehicle on its way to the Kashmir Valley, killing two troopers and injuring 11, at Narsu Nallah, 65 km from Jammu.
The BSF vehicle was peppered with bullets but the troopers fought back, one officer said.
After one of the attackers got killed, Usman ran all the way to Chirdi village in the hills and took three simple villagers hostage — a decision that was to seal his fate.
Officials initially gave no credit to the villagers who caught the terrorists. But the villagers gave their version of the story to reporters who thronged the village.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said the credit for catching the Pakistani should go to Chirdi villagers.
“Very brave of the unarmed civilians to wrestle and disarm an armed terrorist. They should be suitably rewarded for this bravery,” Omar said.
“Very unfortunate that the credit is not going where it is due.”
Some Indian experts felt that Wednesday’s attack was aimed at spiking the proposed talks between the National Security Advisers of Pakistan and India.
Wednesday’s attack took place on the 300-km Jammu-Srinagar highway that links Jammu region with the Kashmir Valley and is a lifeline for Srinagar.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said the attack was “extremely worrying” because it followed the July 27 terrorist attack in Gurdaspur district in Punjab that left seven people dead.
Gurdaspur borders Pakistan, and those attackers too were believed to be Pakistanis.
(With Inputs From Agencies)