M A I N   N E W S

Omar slams Centre over Hizb man’s arrest
Dinesh Manhotra/TNS

Jammu, March 25
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today slammed the Centre over execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, its opposition to revocation of Armed Forces Special Power Act and arrest of alleged Hizb militant Syed Liyaqat Shah.

Winding up the debate on grants of various departments under his control in the Assembly, Omar seized the opportunity to take on the Centre for adopting “pick and choose” policy while conducting some “experiments” in J-K.

Accusing the Centre of being unfair to J-K, Omar said: “People are asking us many genuine questions but we have no answers.” Expressing anger over Shah’s arrest, Omar said the entire episode has resulted in a setback to state government’s programme to rehabilitate former militants. “It would send a wrong message to misguided youth who want to come back”, he said. Omar asserted that Shah hadn’t come to India to carry out a terror strike. “If a man comes to attack a shopping mall, will he come with his wife and children?” he asked.

Referring to Guru’s hanging, he said the decision was taken without considering its “pros and cons.” He maintained that Guru execution reflected Centre’s “double standards” as other convicts facing death sentence were given legal opportunity for mercy petition.

“People want to know why Guru was hanged out of turn? “We have no answer to these questions”, he said. Omar also lashed out at Centre for opposing revocation of AFSPA.

On Guru’s hanging

Guru’s execution reflects Centre’s double standards. Decision was taken without considering its pros and cons

On AFSPA

When we talk about revoking the AFSPA, the Centre doesn’t want to take the risk, but they (Centre) hanged Guru despite knowing the fact that it would create law and order problem in the state

NIA to conduct probe
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 25
The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the National Investigative Agency to look into the arrest of alleged Hizbul Mujahideen militant Syed Liyaqat Shah.

The Delhi Police claimed to have foiled a plot to target the Capital on the day of Holi with Shah’s arrest. The Jammu and Kashmir Police, on the other hand, said Shah, a Kupwara resident, was returning home to surrender.

The NIA has been asked to look into the conflicting versions and sift through documents, if any, pertaining to Shah’s plea for surrender filed in 2011. The agency has been asked to put its findings in a detailed report.

The Delhi Police has been insisting that Shah had come to India via Nepal to carry out a fidayeen (suicide) attack in New Delhi. The J-K Police claims that it had cleared Shah’s arrival as he was coming to surrender. Sources said Liyaqat Shah's name was number 74 on the police register in Kupwara and his family had applied for his return for rehabilitation on February 5, 2011.. After completing formalities, the local police had forwarded the application to the criminal investigation branch of the Kashmir police and other departments, including Central agencies. Sources in the Central agencies, which keep an eye on J-K, feel that the Delhi Police overreacted in Shah’s case. “They could have detained Shah on suspicion and got his credentials verified instead of announcing it before the media,” they said.

Shah had surrendered before Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) at the Sanauli checkpost on the Indo-Nepal border on March 20. He was part of a group returning from Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of the rehabilitation policy. Other members of the group surrendered after reaching Kashmir on March 23.

There is an understanding between the J&K Government, the Home Ministry and the Army, 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 the police in the Valley. Shah's wife Akthar Nisa had yesterday said they had sold a piece of land in the PoK for Rs 2 lakh and the money was used for arranging passports, air tickets and in travel expenses.

In Kashmir, Leader of the Opposition Mehbooba Mufti said Kashmiris were being arrested without evidence and treated as “fodder for rewards and medals.” The Delhi Police Commissioner and Special Cell Commissioner also met the Home Secretary on Monday.