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| From Kerala to Kashmir, connection confirmed | | Two militants killed in Kupwara on Oct 7 were Keralites | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Oct 24: After three weeks of suspicion and several theories, mostly contradictory to each other, on killing of two Indian Mujahideen cadres in North Kashmir, the Kerala Police have finally confirmed that the dead were actually Keralites.
The Kerala police have confirmed that two militants killed in a gun battle with the security forces in the border district of Kupwara in Kashmir Valley early this month were Keralites. Kerala Special Branch CID (Kozhikode) Superintendent of Police, T K Raj Mohan, who is in Srinagar, has confirmed that the slain militants were Abdul Rahim from Malappuram and Mohammed Fayaz from Kannur, both in their early 30s and married.
Both militants had criminal antecedents. Abdul Rahim was a key accused in the case relating to torching of a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus at Kalamassery near Kochi a few years back for the release of Muslim cleric Abdul Nasser Madani, then facing trial in the Coimbatore blasts case. Mohammed Fayaz had several cases of chain snatching against him at police stations in Kannur, police said.
The Kerala police had initially denied they were Keralites. However, following persistent information that both were non-Kashmiris, Kerala deputed its own officer for an on-the-spot verification.
The definite clue, besides some verses in Malayalam found on the bodies of the slain militants, had come from the militants' mobile phone call history. Calls were traced to one Abdul Jaleel in Kannur, who is now in police custody.
According to the police, Jaleel changed his SIM card all on a sudden on October 5 to cover up the evidence of calls received from the two militants holed up in Kupwara. The militants were gunned down on October 7. "Some of the information given by Jaleel helped us in identifying the slain militants", a top police official said.
The Kannur police yesterday searched the residence of Mohammed Fayaz on the beach in Kannur and recovered personal documents plus accessories for karate training used by him.
Abdul Fayaz's mother told reporters that her son had left home two months back along with a friend and they were headed for Ahmedabad. There had been no word from him since, she said.
Soon after the shootout on October 7, the J&K police had identified the duo by their aliases Yasin and Faya. They were killed in the Dever Migri forest area which the Army personnel cordoned off on a tip-off of militant hideout. During the search operation by the troops, the militants opened fire, resulting in a fierce battle. Arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants’ person. The bodies are still preserved in Srinagar.
An assistant to Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that once "we get official confirmation from the J&K police, we will pass on the information to respective families. They could approach the J&K police for the bodies".
Kupwara Senior Superintendent of Police Uttam Chand had said the militants belonged to the Lashkare Taiba but their real affiliation was being ascertained. A section of the media had reported that the two belonged to Indian Mujahideen, the outfit responsible for the recent bombings in Delhi and other cities. |
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