Udhampur attack: Why Mohammed Naved isn't Ajmal Kasab

NEW DELHI: Mohammed Naved is an important catch for the security agencies, but he is surely not the first Pakistani national to be picked up after Ajmal Kasab. At least 10 such relatively high profile arrests have been made since the Mumbai attacks.

However, corroborative evidence from Pakistan has never come, despite several requests by India. In Kasab’s case, his family was traced and they claimed him as their son in various Pakistan media reports. That’s not been the case with the others till now even though efforts by India continue. In Naved's case, investigators are trying to nail evidence with the help of details he has revealed during investigations, including phone numbers of relatives.

Pakistan’s stout denial on Thursday of Naved’s claim that he hails from Faisalabad and his father’s name is Mohammed Yaqub is very much the set pattern. India at various forums including the Home secretaries’ level talks in 2012 has given dossiers of Pak-origin terrorists arrested in India but all information has always been denied despite addresses and identity details on certain occasions.






This was also one of the key reasons that the Indo-Pak Joint Anti-Terrorism Mechanism set up after an Indo-Pak meeting in Havana failed to take off.