Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 26: Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist Mohammed Naved Yakub, a resident of Faisalabad in Pakistan, made a confessional statement before a Magistrate here today regarding the role of the terror outfit in carrying out strikes like the Udhampur attack in the State.
Under tight security, Naved, in his early twenties, was brought before the court of Chief Judicial magistrate (CJM), Jammu Suneet Gupta, where the judge asked him whether he was giving the confessional statement under any duress or voluntarily.
After receiving answers in affirmative that he was willingly giving the statement, the Judge sent him back to jail and asked him to come after lunch.
He was produced before the Judge at 1 pm and the recording of his statement continued till 4.30 pm during which he is understood to have given his family background, role of Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group, his handlers in the Kashmir valley and execution of August 5 attack on BSF convoy at Narsu, Samroli in Udhampur district on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in which two BSF jawans were killed and 13 others injured.
Naved had given a written consent in Urdu before the Chief Judicial Magistrate on August 24 that he wanted to give a confessional statement before a court.
The confessional statement was recorded under Section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code.
Naved along with his accomplice Mohammed Noman alias Momin had carried out a terror strike on a BSF convoy on August 5 in Udhampur killing two personnel of the border guarding force. Momin was killed in retaliatory firing by the BSF while Naved was foxed and nabbed by two villagers whom he wanted to kidnap.
Ahead of recording of his statement, the accused was kept in judicial custody away from the NIA and other sleuths for a mandatory 48 hours for him to get an opportunity to rethink whether or not he wanted to give a confessional statement suo moto.
Naved was extensively questioned for over a fortnight by NIA and sleuths of intelligence agencies during which he identified several accused, who had harboured him and his associates in South Kashmir after their infiltration from the Line of Control (LoC) near Gulmarg in Kupwara sector of the Kashmir valley in May-June. A number of accused identified by him have been arrested.
Immediately after statement of Naved was recorded before the CJM, the NIA filed an application seeking judicial remand of the terrorist.
CJM Suneet Gupta after going through the application filed by NIA SSP Atul Goel, the Chief Investigating Officer (CIO) of Udhampur terror attack, observed that offences attributed to the accused were serious in nature and at this stage of investigations, he was not entitled for bail.
The CJM further observed that as per the NIA, they didn’t require custody of the accused any more, at least at this stage of investigations in the case. Therefore, the accused was sent to judicial custody and lodged in Kot Bhalwal jail under tight security arrangements. He will be now produced before the competent court on September 4, 2015.
The Lashkar terrorist had earlier provided a picture of Abu Qasim, terror outfit’s South Kashmir-based commander, on whom the agency has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh to any information leading to his arrest.
NIA has released a photograph of one of the accused identified as Abu Okasha, a resident of Khyber Paktukhwa in Pakistan. The agency also announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh on information leading to his arrest.
A similar cash reward has been announced for the fourth accomplice Zhargham who infiltrated into India with Naved and others from Gulmarg sector in the valley.
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