Intelligence agencies detain 40 persons at Indo-Nepal border

LUCKNOW: Acting on a tip-off from central intelligence agencies, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Uttar Pradesh Police intercepted and detained 40 persons including 11 males, 7 females and 22 children while entering into India from Nepal at the Sonauli border in Maharajganj district early on Monday morning. None of them were found with any documents that could help in verification of their identity.
Though senior police officials were tight-lipped on the issue, UP police sources said that credentials of nine of the adult males have been verified as natives of Jammu and Kashmir.
However surfacing of a Pakistani angle has put a question mark on the very movement of the group, which actually comprises seven families and two others.
Sources said that sustained quizzing of the suspects have revealed that some of adult Kashmiri males had crossed over to Pakistan several years ago and got married their. Doing odd jobs, they brought up their families in Pakistan itself before they decided to return to their native places in the Kashmir valley. Investigating agencies suspect that some of them had probably undergone arms training in Pakistan and were now shifting with their families to Kashmir possibly as a part of a major terror design.
Reports reaching the director general of police headquarters here said that all the 11 adult males were subjected to several rounds of questioning separately by the central and state intelligence agencies apart from the Uttar Pradesh Police and the SSB teams.
After they claimed to be natives of Jammu and Kashmir, their specifics were faxed to the J&K police for individual verification. While, some of them were either established as true, others are yet to be confirmed.
The heads of the seven families have been identified as natives of Kashmir. These include Dawood Ahmed Lone (37) of Naakhal area in Magaama police circle of Badgam district, Farooq Ahmed Baani (29) of Kulgam, Abdul Rasheed (38) of Pulgama, Bashir Ahmed (32) of Kalaarus locality and Gulam Mohiuddin (45) of Kachruqazipura in Lagaat police circle - all situated in Kupwara district, Bashir Ahmed (42) of Goolar locality under Pahalgam in Anantnag, Sheikh Mustafa (42) of Lalpura in Budgam district, Mohammed Ashraf Thokar (35) of Raakhiteer loclaity in Pulwama district and Shabbeer Ahmed (32) of Shopian district in Kashmir.
Investigating agencies confirmed that though nothing objectionable had been found from any of the 40 persons detained and all of them were carrying household items with them, further verification of some of them is underway.
"A clear picture will emerge possibly by Tuesday evening," said a senior IPS officer posted with a central intelligence agency.