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Pakistani terrorist captured, 1 killed in anti-infiltration operations in Uri
During the interrogation, the officer said, it was learnt that the terrorists infiltrated from Sawai Nala Camp to Hallan Shumali Launch pad to Jabri in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which led to the Salamabad Nala.
A Pakistani terrorist belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was captured alive while another was killed during an anti-infiltration operation in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army said on Tuesday.
The terrorists, who appeared to be planning a strike, made the infiltration attempt along the Salamabad Nala, which was the same route used for the 2016 suicide attack on the Uri garrison, the army added.
Major General Virendra Vats, General Officer Commanding (GOC), 19 infantry division, said the incident took place on September 25 when a brief encounter erupted between the terrorists and security forces near the Nala. “The operation was initially launched on the intervening night of September 18 and 19 when an infiltration bid by six Pakistani terrorists was made along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri sector. As an encounter broke out, taking advantage of the dark and dense foliage, four terrorists retreated back to Pakistan while the remaining two sneaked into Uri. The combing operation continued for nine days in the area,” he said.
“However, on September 25, contact was established again with the two terrorists by one such patrolling party near the LoC, following which one terrorist one killed and the other was taken into custody, after due precautions, as he pleaded for his life,” he added.
The deceased was identified as Atiq ur Rehman alias Qari Anas, a resident of Attock in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The second terrorist, who was taken into custody, was identified as Ali Babar Patra from Okara district in the same province.
During the interrogation, the officer said, it was learnt that the terrorists infiltrated from Sawai Nala Camp to Hallan Shumali Launch pad to Jabri in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which led to the Salamabad Nala.
“Using the same Nala, terrorists had infiltrated in 2016 with the help of Pakistan Army to carry out a suicide attack on the Uri Garrison,” the GOC said.
The officer added that the terrorist was directed by his handlers to drop supplies at Pattan. “But when we went through the recoveries and modus operandi, it suggested that they had come here for some kind of a strike which went beyond the drop of supplies,” he added.
The captured terrorist also told interrogators that he was lured into joining the LeT due to poverty. Patra said he underwent three weeks of preliminary training at Garhi Habibullah Camp (KPK) in 2019 and then fresh training this year, the officer said.
Patra added that Rehman had given him ₹20,000 for his mother’s treatment and had promised him an additional amount of ₹30,000 on his safe return from Pattan near Baramulla, where the group was to deliver the war-like stores (arms and ammunition).
Seven AK-47 weapons, nine pistols and revolvers, more than 80 grenades and Indian and Pakistani currencies were recovered during the latest Uri operation and the one that took place on September 18 in the surrounding area, Vats said.
The official said the movement of such a large number of people cannot take place without the active complicity of the Pakistan Army deployed on the other side.
“This shows the desperation of Pakistan that when they see peace in Kashmir, they send in terrorists to disturb peace by sensational strike. Seven terrorists have been neutralised in as many days while one has been nabbed alive,” he added.
Last week, the army claimed that three terrorists were killed in Hatlanga village in Uri, close to the LoC.
