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SRINAGAR: The capture of Mohammad Naveed, a resident of Faisalabad in Pakistan, who was captured after the Udhampur attack that left two BSF jawans and a militant dead, belies the claims of the Army about "zero infiltration" from its western border in Jammu and Kashmir this year.
A senior Army official when contacted said it was “premature” to believe all that Naveed was saying, and “the investigations were still on.”
According to the information given out by the NIA and J&K Police to various media outlets, Naveed's group of four Lashkar-e-Toiba militants had crossed over from Pakistan in May this year.
Naveed has reportedly revealed that his group was launched from Halan area of Pakistan for a "major fidayeen strike" in J&K.
"On May 27, the group comprising Naveed and Noman (the militant who died in Udhampur ambush on August 5), besides Ukasha and Mohammad Bhai set off from Halan in Pakistan," a J&K Police officer said.
However, this is in sharp contrast with the official position of the Army on infiltration attempts from Pakistan. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GoC-In-C), Northern Command, Lt Gen DS Hooda said last month there were no successful infiltration attempts from Pakistan this year.
"As per an assessment, which is done by all intelligence agencies, nobody has successfully infiltrated from across (the border) this year. As many as 97 people infiltrated in 2013 followed by 65 in 2014,” Lt Gen Hooda said in an interview.
The statement of Mohammad Naveed has, however, cast doubts about these claims.
The Army refused to comment on the issue.
Udhampur-based spokesperson of Northern Command, SD Goswami, said he is not in a position to comment on the matter and referred to another officer at command headquarters who refused to come on record.
"Firstly," the officer said, "I am not empowered to give comments on the issue. Besides, I think it is too premature to believe his (Naveed's) statement. We must not jump to conclusions when the investigations are underway and the matter is sub-judice (sic)," he said.
The officer said the command headquarters will issue an official statement on the issue soon.
