MHA likely to order probe on suspected Hizb militant's arrest

NEW DELHI: Taking note of the conflicting versions of the Delhi Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Home Ministry is likely to order a probe on circumstances leading to the arrest of suspected Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Liyaqat Ali Shah.


The Ministry of Home Ministry (MHA) has taken note of the version presented by the Jammu and Kashmir government vis-a-vis Liyaqat Ali Shah and it is looking into the facts presented by both the Delhi Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police.

"A decision on whether an inquiry is warranted will be taken after scrutiny of both the versions," Union Home Secretary R K Singh told PTI.

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has claimed that it had foiled a 'fidayeen (suicide) strike' in the capital with the arrest of Shah, who, they claimed, was a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist who planned attacks to avenge Afzal Guru's hanging.

However, the Jammu and Kashmir Police has supported the claims of Shah's family that he was a former militant who had surrendered before SSB at the Sanauli check-post on the Nepal border and was part of a group returning from Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK )as part of the rehabilitation policy of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

As an important confidence building measure, the state government had entered into an understanding with the Home Ministry that any youth who had joined militant ranks in 1990s and wishing to return via Nepal would be allowed to do so provided he surrenders before the army or police in the Valley.

This way, about 150 former militants have returned to Jammu and Kashmir from PoK after taking the Nepal route in 2011 and around 115 in 2012.