NIA gets custody of 5 behind LeT militant’s escape

SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday got the custody of the five men arrested for allegedly helping Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Naveed Jhatt escape from a hospital in Srinagar earlier this month.

The court of Srinagar’s chief judicial magistrate granted the agency a transit remand of two days of Shakeel Ahmed Bhat, Tika Khan, Syed Tajamul Islam, M Shafi Wani and Jan Mohammad Ganai — all residents of Pulwama in south Kashmir. The central agency will produce the five accused before the special court in Jammu on Friday.

“We will seek police remand of the five accused for further interrogation,” NIA inspector general Alok Mittal said.

The accused were arrested a day after the dramatic escape of Jhatt from state-run Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital where he was taken for a medical check-up on February 6. According to the police, some accused took positions in and around the hospital on the day of the attack, mingled with patients and attendants and even allegedly handed over a pistol to Jhatt. He was arrested in 2014 and managed to get a stay order on his transfer from Srinagar’s central jail to another jail outside the Valley in 2016 and subsequently in 2017.

Police believe that LeT was desperate to get Jhatt out as all top brass of the outfit was killed.

“First Abu Dujana was killed and later Abu Ismail. After this LeT has not named any other commander, their desperation to get Jhatt out can mean he is a potential commander,” Muneer Khan, additional director general of police, said after the arrests.

THE ACCUSED WERE ARRESTED A DAY AFTER THE MILITANT ESCAPED FROM THE HOSPITAL WHERE HE WAS TAKEN FOR A CHECKUP