Chargesheeted Pakistani was sent to Kashmir to fuel unrest after Burhan Wani's death: Indian investigative agency

His arrest from Jammu and Kashmir on July 25, 2016 cut short the plans his Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) handlers had to further fuel unrest in the Kashmir Valley in the aftermath of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's killing by India's security forces.

Had he not been caught, Bahadur Ali— the Pakistani national against whom India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) today filed a charge sheet before a special court— would have attempted to mix with the protestors and throw grenades at the security forces during the agitation post Wani's killing in Kashmir.

After having crossed over into the Indian side from across the Line of Control along with two more terrorists, Ali— during a conversation with his handler from across the border— was told that the LeT cadres had been successful in fuelling large scale agitation in Kashmir after Eid following militant Burhan Wani's death, the NIA has told the court in its chargesheet today. Codenamed Alfa 3, the Lashkar handler then told Ali to “to mix with the protestors and throw grenades at the security forces” so as to further fuel the agitation in the Kashmir valley, the NIA has said.

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NIA has accused Bahadur Ali of plotting terror attacks across India, including its capital New Delhi. (WION)

NIA's main charge against Ali is that he infiltrated into India in a bid to commit acts of terrorism in various Indian cities, including its capital New Delhi. Following his arrest, Ali revealed the details of the infiltrators he was to receive as per his handler's instructions. Based on this information, a search operation was launched in Bandi Monabal area on July 26, 2016 and four unidentified terrorists were killed. A huge cache of arms, ammunition, explosives and wireless sets was recovered too.

As per the NIA, Bahadur Ali, Abu Saad and Abu Darda were provided codes in the form of nine alphabets, which were to be used to record numerals such as grid references and phone numbers.

An analysis based on the disclosure of Bahadur Ali regarding the codes has established the route taken by the trio after they crossed the LoC. “When plotted on a map, the deciphered grid references clearly trace the infiltration route from the direction of the LoC towards Handwara,” the NIA has stated. The NIA has added that investigation proves that Ali is well conversant with using map sheet and plotted the grid references correctly. Data on the GPS device recovered from Ali at the time of his arrest contained coordinates of Lashkar's Mandakuli "launching pad" in PoK.

The 50-page charge sheet traces in great detail the journey Ali and his two fellow terrorists undertook to infiltrate into India:

• On the intervening night of June 12 & 13, 2016, Bahadur Ali along with two associates, Abu Saad & Abu Darda, infiltrated into India by crossing the LoC.
• Heavily armed, the trio walked for about seven days following the grid references with the aid of GPS devices provided to them by Abu Haider at Lashkar's Mandakuli ‘launching pad’.
• The infiltrating terrorists were provided with eight grid references, the eighth denoting their final destination.
• On June 20, 2016 they reached a hilltop near village Wadar in Handwara (J&K)--the sixth of the eight grid references. Here, Abu Saad sent a message to a handler called ‘Walid Bhai’ by pairing his mobile phone with his wireless set--a communication technique especially designed by let to avoid interception.
• Around June 22, Darda and Saad went to village Wadar to arrange food, leaving Bahadur Ali on a nearby hill. After a short while Bahadur Ali heard sound of gunfire. On hearing the gunfire, Bahadur Ali was confused and he rushed towards a nearby hilltop as a precautionary measure and waited for Darda and Saad to return. The duo, however, never returned.
• The next morning, Bahadur Ali contacted Alfa-3, the LeT control station based in PoK, through his wireless set and apprised the receiver of let about his situation. He was directed to continue his journey and reach the final destination at the eighth grid reference.
• Bahadur Ali reached the location of the 8th grid reference. This point was located on a hill near village Mukam, Yahama. After reaching this point, Bahadur Ali contacted Alfa-3 who provided him with an additional grid reference, where he was told to contact a local person who would provide him food and other support.
• At the grid reference provided by Alfa-3, bahadur ali met one local person and two others later. After confirming each other’s identities, the local person provided food to Bahadur Ali.
• On July 24, 2016, Alfa-3 directed Ali to receive a group of freshly infiltrated terrorists of Lashkar. Alfa-3 provided a grid reference, where Bahadur Ali was to receive the group of terrorists. However, before he could receive these terrorists, he was apprehended by the security forces on July 25.

Recoveries made from Ali's possession at the time of his arrest:

• One compass
• One ICOM wireless set
• One matrix sheet bearing codes
• Two unicode sheets (handwritten pocket diary pages), bearing text written in coded form
• Indian currency worth Rs 23,000 (of which 3 notes were fake)
• One GPS set
• and one map sheet

Recoveries made following information revealed by Ali after his arrest:

• One AK-47 rifle
• Five AK-47 magazines. Each loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition
• One under barrel grenade launcher (UBGL)
• Five live UBGL shells
• Two live hand grenades (Chinese)
• One Icom wireless set
• One magazine pouch
• One black coloured bag containing medicines and other items of daily use, several of these items have the label ‘Made in Pakistan.’
  

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