The immigration bureau has arrested three Kashmiri youths who were travelling to Pakistan via the integrated check post (ICP) at Attari and handed them over to the Jammu and Kashmir police, an intelligence official said.
The J&K police had issued lookout circular (LOC) against Sikand, Avesh and Irfan of Pulwama district. The three are in their twenties.
“They were detained in a local police station for a day. During their interrogation, the youths said they were going to Pakistan for study purpose. This is not the first case of Kashmiris being arrested at Attari,” the official said.
Border Security Force (BSF) deputy inspector general (DIG) JS Oberoi confirmed the arrest. Security agencies suspect that many of Kashmiri youngsters travel to Pakistan on the pretext of studying there for taking arms training.
On February 3, two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were arrested in J&K’s Baramulla district by a joint team of the police, Army and CRPF. The accused were identified as Abdul Majeed Bhat and Mohammad Ashraf Mir, who had gone to Pakistan on a valid Pakistani visa and received arms training before returning to India via the Attari-Wagah border, the police in a press release had said.
On being questioned, the duo had revealed that they had undergone terror training in Pakistan along with a large number of Pakistani boys, many of them from Balochistan.
{{/usCountry}}On being questioned, the duo had revealed that they had undergone terror training in Pakistan along with a large number of Pakistani boys, many of them from Balochistan.
{{/usCountry}}Senior superintendent of police (SSP rural) Parampal Singh said the immigration department has been arresting many Kashmiris from Attari border because they lack formalities to cross the border.
“Many of them are involved in disputes over land and defacement of public properties and the police issuing LOCs against them in some cases,” he said.