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| Not only Laila but her compatriot and top militant | | Irfan too had wide network of contacts at Kishtwar | | BHARAT BHUSHAN
JAMMU, June 29: Not only Pak national and Bollywood starlet Laila Khan but her compatriot Mohammad Irfan alias Anwar alias Romesh -- a top militant -- too had a wide network of contacts in the J&K's mountain-locked Kishtwar area.
While Laila, who went missing over an year ago and was said to be hiding in Dubai on a fake passport, is wanted by Indian security agencies for her alleged links with Dawood Ibrahim, Irfan had caused serial bomb blasts at M A Stadium here on January 26, 1995, resulting in the death of several people. K V Krishna Rao, who was the J&K governor that time, had a providential escape.
Laila's Outlander car was recovered from a shop, that had not been opened for several months, in Kishtwar town, a month, or so back. This car was suspected to have been used in the Delhi high court blast.
Irfan, who along with two other Pak militants -- Mohammad Salim and Mohammad Khalid -- had broken the "high-security" Kot-Bhalwal jail and exfiltrated to Pakistan somewhere from the border Kanhachak area, 15 to 20 km from the jail, was now helping ISI to find new infiltration routes for militants waiting to sneak into India from Pakistan.
He hails from Garhi in Tanda tehsil of Gujarat, Pakistan. He was arrested by Jammu police on March 23, 1995, from near Samba. The jail was broken by him, Salim and Khalid on the night of October 16, 1998.
Irfan knows well the routes leading from the International Border (IB) to various Jammu places. Before joining militant ranks, he worked as a transborder smuggler and brought consignments for an international smuggler (now dead) of Akhnoor.
He and his accomplice Mohammad Sharief brought the first consignment of gold and 5 kg heroin in February 1994 and handed it over to the smuggler somewhere in the Tawi area.
In return, the smuggler had given them two cans of acetic anhydride and a sealed packet of US dollars, according to a top police officer who also gave this scribe a government document containing all these details.
In his second trip to this side of the IB on March 23, 1994, he and Sharief had given the smuggler 10 kilograms of heroin.
They again came to this side on March 25, 1994, and handed over the smuggler 3 kg gold biscuits and 5 kg heroin, the officer said.
He got so well-versed with the infiltration routes that he was roped in by the ISI in the last week of April, 1994, and taken to Sialkote where he was given training in the handling of AK rifle, pistol, handgrenades and other explosives for six days.
The ISI gave him first task on the night of June 12, 1994, when he and other militants -- Sher Ali, Hyder Ali, Sarwar Bhat and Ghulam Nabi -- were asked to plant four rockets in Simble Camp area here. Three Pak Pak Rangers helped them to infiltrate into this side of the IB at about 10 pm.
They had with them four rockets, three AK rifles and an air-filled tube to help them wade through the Tawi river.
The officer said they reached Malik Chak on this side of the IB at about 1.30 am, planted the rockets and then exfiltrated to Pakistan. The rockets had later exploded.
On August 6, 1994, he visited Hamza, Abbassi and various other militant training camps at Muzaffarabad and stayed in HM office on Idgah Road there. On August 9, he visited Athmugam and Jungle Mangal militant training camps.
Irfan told his interrogators in Jammu that to spread hatred against India, the ISI published two magazines in Urdu -- Jihadey Kashmir and Mujahid -- from Rawalpindi.
He also had a meeting with HM chief Sallahudin at Sialkote on November 16, 1994. The meeting was also attended by some militants of Doda and Kishtwar.
On Sallahudin's directive, he and his two accomplices -- Shuja Hayat and Mohammad Sharief -- infiltrated into India from Vijaypur area on December 9, 1994, and hid three boxes of ammunition, 3 AK rifles, a box of grenades and a wireless set at Karli Khurp.
From Vijaypur, they boarded a Jammu-bound bus.
Shuja and Sharief got down from the bus at Bari Brahmana where police had laid a naka. Irfan, however, came to Jammu in the same bus and after spending two days here, he exfiltrated to Pakistan somewhere from Vijaypur area.
The conspiracy to plant bombs at M A Stadium here was hatched in JeI/HM office at Sialkote on December 26, 1994. Two days later, Irfan and a resident of Malik Mohalla, Kishtwar, were shown the map of M A Stadium and also the location of the dias, VIP gallery, public galley, and in and exit gates.
It was decided that pre-timed devices (PTDs) would be attached to the bombs to trigger explosions on January 26, 1995.
On December 28 night, the duo were taken by the ISI operatives to the Pak Chumbian post and pushed into India at about 10 pm from near the BSF post of Allah Mai Di Kothi (AMK) in R S Pura sector.
After hiding the consignment (two plastic bombs weighing 5 kg each, PTDs, AK rifles and pistols) in the Nikki Tawi area, they walked up to Miran Sahib. From there, they boarded a Jammu-bound bus at about 10 am on December 29, 1994.
On December 29 and 30, they visited various places here and also carried out a recce of the stadium. In the evening of December 30, they went to the Nikki Tawi area, collected the consignment and came to Jewel.
The officer said Irfan and the Kishtwar resident entered the stadium at about 8 pm after scaling the giant iron gates. They dug the earth near the dias and the VIP gallery and planted the PTD-fitted bombs. The whole operation took 45 minutes.
After the task was finished, they crossed over to Pakistan from the AMK area at about 3 am on December 31 and reached the Pak Chumbian post where they were warmly received by the Rangers and the ISI operatives on the successful completion of the task.
Another conspiracy was hatched across the border to plant more bombs inside the stadium, knowing that there existed laxity in security bandobast around the Republic Day venue.
This time, three more militants, were sent with Irfan and the Kishtwar resident. Of the three, one hailed from Doda city and one from Kishtwar, the officer added.
On the night of January 7, 1995, they infiltrated from the border AMK area and reached the Tawi bridge at Jewel here after covering a distance of about 6 km. Seven bombs were hidden by them beneath the bridge.
While Irfan and the Kishtwar militant stayed in a government quarter at Poonch House, Panjtirthi, the other three checked in a hotel room on Panjbakhtar Road. The quarter belonged to the Kishtwar militant's cousin.
With the help of the Kishtwar militants, he planted the seven bombs inside the stadium in broad daylight on January 8 at about 2 pm while it rained. They went back to Pakistan following the AMK route the next day.
The bombs planted by him with the help of Kishtwar militants exploded on January 26 while the Republic Day function was in progress, resulting in the death of several people.
From February to March 1995, he smuggled arms and ammunition for at least seven times into Jammu without being seen by any Indian agency on the border.
Finally, he was caught from a Pathankote-bound bus while travelling with Sharief -- a Pak national -- near Samba on March 23, 1995. They had boarded the bus to avoid arrest by police at a naka near Vijaypur.
After spending more than three years in the Kot-Bhalwal jail, he broke it on October 16, 1998, and then escaped back to Pakistan. Salim and Khalid were also with him.
The officer said like Laila, Irfan too had a wide network of contacts in Kishtwar and depended on them to accomplish his tasks on the Indian soil.
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