Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 4: Nine Hizbul Mujahideen militants along with their nine Pakistani wives and 22 children were today shifted to Srinagar from Sonouli on Indo-Nepal border, where they had been detained few days back, and lodged in Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC), Kashmir for sustained questioning.
The militants were shifted to Srinagar along with their family members under tight security arrangements by a joint team of Srinagar police and Counter Intelligence (CI) Kashmir from Sonouli this afternoon.
Immediately after their arrival in Srinagar, the militants were shifted to JIC Srinagar along with their Pakistani wives and children.
Police sources said the militants would be subjected to questioning to ascertain details of their stay in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and other places for nearly two decades, the terrorist training camps being run in Pakistan and PoK, terror infrastructure in Pakistan and other activities of militants.
The militants have been identified as Sayeed Mujtaba Bukhari, Dawood Rather, Ashraf Thakur and Mustafa Hussain, all residents of Budgam, Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din, Bashir Ahmad and Abdul Rashid of Kupwara, Bashir Ahmed of Pahalgam and Shabbir Ahmed of Shopian.
Police was looking into documents of the militants, who have so far applied for return from Pakistan and PoK under Rehabilitation Policy of the State Government. Reports indicated that Sayeed Mujtaba Bukhari and Dawood Rather had applied for return under the Rehabilitation Policy.
While a case would be registered against the militants, police and CIK would examine on whether to free their wives and children and allow them to stay in houses of the militants or keep them in custody. A decision to this effect would be taken shortly, sources said.
The militants along with their wives and children had been captured by Shahstra Suraksha Bal (SSB) jawans at Sonouli few days back soon after they had crossed over to Uttar Pradesh from Nepal border.
As they turned out to be Kashmiri militants, the SSB handed over their custody to Kashmir Police two days back on completion of legal formalities. The Kashmir police shifted them to Srinagar on transit remand this morning.
Sources said the militants and their wives would be cross examined at the JIC Kashmir to gather details from them about terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK as they had been putting up there for past two decades.
The militants, as reported, had left Kashmir and crossed over to PoK from the LoC in early nineties. After training in the terror camps, they had settled in Muzaffarabad, the PoK capital and married local women. They had been working there to earn their livelihood.
Sources said the militants along with their wives and kin had traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal on Pakistani passports and visas and then entered India from Nepal border.
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