dna exclusive: Investigation reveal not two, but three miltants, behind Udhampur attack

The Lashkar-e-Toiba led ambush on a BSF convoy in Udhampur was supposed to occur on the fourth of August instead of the fifth, with with three and not two militants leading the attack. The third militant, who said to be a teenager, was supposed to accompany the captured LeT gunman Mohamad Naved and his slain accomplice Noman is said to be an Afghan national, and is currently on the run. According to official sources, the Afghan militant, on August 4, had traveled halfway to Udhampur with Naved and Noman but decided not to participate in the attack.

Sources told dna that reasons behind his reluctance are not clear but questioning of Naved and others who had a role to play in the attack revealed that the Afghan 'was not motivated enough to carry out the assault'. "He panicked when their truck was on the way to Udhampur. He is even said to have wept. The driver of the truck, Naved and Noman tried to counsel him but he refused to comply as a result of which they returned to the Valley. The next day only Naved and Noman left for Udhampur," said a source adding that the Afghan militant is now on the run.

"The NIA and Jammu and Kashmir police force are currently pursuing him," said an investigating official who refused to name the militant, stating that 'disclosing more details about the identity of the wanted terrorist can interfere with the ongoing investigation'.

The official, however, did say that the LeT militant from Afghanistan is the youngest in the group responsible for the attack and had been been active in the southern parts of the Kashmir Valley for a few months now. Investigative agencies now believe that it might have been his young age that could have deterred him from participating in the 'Fidayeen' attack which claimed the lives of two BSF personnel. Lashkar is largely considered as one of the first organisations to have introduced 'Fidayeen tactics' into the Valley with its militants entering into army camps without having much of an escape plan.

The involvement of the Afghan national had come to the fore earlier during Naved's interrogation and confirmed by a truck driver identified as Khursheed Ahmed alias 'Surya'. Khursheed, who was arrested by the NIA on Friday, had allegedly ferried the LeT militants to Udhampur. Initially it was believed that Khursheed had ferried the militants to Udhampur on two occasions (July 20 and August 5), officials told dna that Khursheed was in fact the driver who had brought the three men back to the Valley when the Afghan militant had shown reluctance on August 5. According to NIA officials, Khursheed had taken Naved and his accomplices to Jammu on July 20 on a reconnaissance mission during which the timings of convoys of BSF and Army were marked. Official sources now disclosed that the driver who had taken Naved and Noman to Udhampur August 5 was a different one and is said to be a resident of Pulwama .He has been identified as Showkat and is currently absconding.

Meanwhile Khursheed, who is also a resident of South Kashmir, is being interrogated by the NIA. On Friday NIA also revealed the role of Pakistani national Abu Qasim alias Abdur Rehman, the Lashkar-e-Toiba 'commander' of South Kashmir. Khursheed, who is alleged to be an overground worker of Lashkar, is said to have been briefed by Qasim who is now being considered as the mastermind of the attack. According to the NIA, Qasim provided the logistics and was responsible for arranging resources, identifying targets and arranging transport .

Qasim (27), a resident of Bawalpur, Pakistan, was the one who chose the now-absconding Afghan militant for the attack and agencies are now attempting to nab both of them along with Showkat, the second driver.