J&K: Arrested top cop, Davinder Singh, to be probed in connection with 2001 Parliament attack and links with Afzal Guru

Riling up a host of controversies, questions have now been raised against arrested Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police officer Davinder Singh regarding his alleged role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and subsequently, links with Afzal Guru.

Singh, the Deputy Superintendent (DSP) of J&K police, was arrested by security forces on Saturday along with top Hizbul commanders during a counter-terror operation in south Kashmir's Kulgam district. The arrest of a decorated top officer, who was deployed with the anti-hijacking unit at Srinagar International Airport, has shocked the security forces operating in the valley as he has been involved in several anti-terrorism operations in the militancy-hit J&K.

Looking back into the past, it has been known that in 2001, Davinder Singh was the DSP of the Special Operations Group at Humhama. He was named by Afzal in a letter in 2013 as a key go-between in the 2001 incident. According to Afzal, Singh had asked him to "take Mohammad, a Pakistani national and co-accused in Parliament attack case, to Delhi, rent a flat for his stay and purchase a car for him". However, Afzal's allegations against Singh were never probed. In fact, Singh was among the officers who had arrested Afzal Guru after his name emerged in the investigation regarding the 2001 Indian parliament attack.

So how did his luck run out? According to sources, a conversation between Davinder Singh and one of the three arrested terrorists, Naveed Baba, was intercepted by intelligence agencies on Saturday, thereby solidifying charges against him. It came as a shocker to the intelligence agencies since Singh was one of the officials that received the 16-member delegation of foreign ambassadors which visited Kashmir on Thursday. He was awarded the President's police medal last year. However, on Saturday, his luck ran out. Sources in the police say that Naveed’s phone call was traced by the officials which indicated that he was moving to Jammu, forcing the security forces to lay checkpoints in several parts of south Kashmir. 

Sources added that the DSP was arrested along with the top Hizbul commander, Naveed Ahmad Shah alias Naveed Babu, when they were traveling in a car that was possibly on way to Jammu region. The cop had taken a four-day leave on Saturday.

Following the arrests, the security forces carried out raids at the two residences of the cop which includes one at Indra Nagar in Srinagar and Tral in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district where three AK-47 assault rifles and five grenades were recovered. 

Sources privy to the information say that two FIRs have been registered till now. Jammu and Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar on Sunday said that Singh will be dealt with as a "terrorist". The DSP has been also booked under section 19 in FIR number 5/2020.