Radicalised after Pakistan visit, 17 youths later shot in Kashmir

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, May 1

Security agencies have come across a new modus operandi of the ISI to train and indoctrinate Kashmiri youths travelling to Pakistan on valid travel documents. As many as 17 such youths have been killed in various encounters in the Valley over the past few years, say intelligence officials.

According to officials, such youths indulged in terror activities after returning from Pakistan. Security agencies believe that many such youth who went to Pakistan for higher studies or to take part in marriages of relatives were brainwashed by the trained ISI men and provided arms training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

While the tenure of their stay may vary, they are trained in operating assault rifles of AK series and using hand grenades. Some of the youths have also been used for money laundering by Pakistan-based terror groups.

An intelligence official said the trend gathered pace in 2015 when a large number of youth started leaving for Pakistan for studies and meeting relatives. Some of them were killed at the Line of Control (LoC) while trying to enter illegally.

“This is being done to show that the terrorism in Kashmir is an indigenous movement,” said the official.

The University Grants Commission and the All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE) had recently asked the students not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing higher education as such degrees would not make them eligible for seeking employment or higher studies in India.

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of J&K has also filed a chargesheet against a Hurriyat leader and others for selling MBBS seats in Pakistani colleges and using the proceeds for terror activities. Officials said Hurriyat leaders used to write recommendation letters to help such youths reach Pakistan for higher studies. The students were made to appear in a talent search test at the Hurriyat office in Pakistan as a stealth tactic to make them believe that they were writing a pre-qualifying test which would lead to their admission in professional colleges in Pakistan.

The officials said that as many as 17 youths who had gone on valid travel documents to Pakistan and were believed to be in that country receiving education were killed either at the Line of Control or during encounters, leaving their parents in disbelief.

Security officials have been tracking the youths who travelled to Pakistan on valid visas for short durations and disappeared after their return as they believe that they could have become sleeper cells of terror groups operating from across the border.

Security officials on trail of those missing

• Youths who travelled to Pakistan for different reasons and disappeared after returning to the Valley are being traced as they could have become ultras’ sleeper cells.
• Several youths go to Pakistan for higher studies but brainwashed by the ISI and other groups, given arms training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to launch attacks on the Indian soil.
• Recently, the UGC and the AICTE have said getting degrees from Pakistan institutions won’t help students in getting jobs here.

Two ‘hybrid’ terrorists held

Security forces have arrested two ‘hybrid’ terrorists in the Valley. Yamin Yousaf Bhat of Lashkar-e-Toiba was arrested in Kulgam and incriminating material, a pistol, two grenades and 51 rounds were seized from him. In Nowgam, a terrorist, Sheikh Sahid Gulzar of Budgam was arrested. A pistol and ammunition were seized, the police said.