Pakistani made items found on killed terrorists: Shinde

Interesting news article about the use of personal effects for identification purposes:

Making identical statements in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said some items bearing markings of Pakistan have been recovered from the terrorists who were killed in the encounter after attack on a CRPF camp.

He made the statement after sharp criticism by members from various parties, who said the government has repeatedly failed in preventing terror incidents as well in dealing with Pakistan from where it originates.

"The killed terrorists are suspected to be of foreign origin," he said about the incident in which five CRPF jawans lost their lives while battling the attackers.

When pressed in the Rajya Sabha for clarifications, Shinde said he did not say that the terrorists were Pakistanis and only mentioned them as foreigners.

"From the bodies of terrorists killed, two diaries, one each containing numbers suspected to be of Pakistanis, tube of Betnovate, a skin ointment were recovered.

"Further investigations reveal that this tube was manufactured in Glaxo Smithkline Pak Ltd, at 35 Dockyard, Karachi. The name of the tube mentioned in Urdu and the numbers mentioned in the diaries appear to be of Pakistani origin," he said.

He insisted that the government was dealing with terror strongly. "Yahan koi chudiyan nahin pahna hai. Sabke haath me taakat hai (Nobody is wearing bangles in their hands. Everybody is strong)," he said, responding to members' criticism of being soft.

At the same time, he said, the government "knew there will be such attempts" after the execution of Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The Home Minister said the bodies of the terrorists killed in the encounter were shaven, which confirms them to be fidayeens. "The killed terrorists are suspected to be of foreign origin...Although the responsibility for the incident was owned by an agent of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the authenticity of the claim is yet to be ascertained," Shinde said.

He disagreed with contentions that the situation on the terror front in the Valley has turned from bad to worse saying there has been decline in the number of terror incidents as well as infiltration incidents in Jammu and Kashmir in the last few years.

"We are focusing on PoK and we are keeping a watch on the camps there. We are very vigilant. Our intelligence agencies are very serious," the Home Minister said.

He said many an incident is also prevented due to better intelligence coordination but that is not something to be highlighted on a daily basis.

Responding to criticism that the forces were not adequately armed in the Valley and that half of the CRPF jawans do not have guns, the Home Minister said peace process is on in Jammu and Kashmir and the government does not want to do it "by pointing out a gun" all the time and the problem is sometimes also contained with 'lathi' (cane) in hand.

"We want to bring peace in Kashmir by giving a special package there...We, too, do not want to keep the military there for long," he said.

Asserting that "condolence for the dead and compensation for the survived" cannot be the government policy after every such attack, M Venkaiah Naidu (BJP) asked the government to understand the seriousness and go into the core of the issue.

Friday 15 March 2013

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