Police officer ferrying wanted militant held in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

A police officer in India-administered Kashmir was arrested while allegedly transporting a most wanted militant in a car, police said Sunday, bringing into focus his alleged murky role in the 2001 attack on Indian parliament and subsequent controversial hanging of a Kashmiri man, Afzal Guru.

Deputy superintendent of police Davinder Singh, who was currently posted with the anti-hijacking unit of the police at Srinagar Airport, was arrested by the police at a check post in southern Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday afternoon, Vijay Kumar, inspector general of police, told reporters at a news conference.

Travelling in the car with him at the time of the arrest were Naveed Ahmad Shah, a former policeman-turned militant commander, and his alleged associate Rafi Ahmad.

Kumar said not much could be revealed at this moment as investigations that were underway could be hampered.

He said Singh has been charged with possession of arms and involvement in unlawful activities for now.

“Travelling with militants is a heinous crime. In the coming days we will be sharing more information,” he said.

Asked about media reports suggesting that arms and ammunition had been recovered from Singh’s home in Pulwama district and another residence in Srinagar, Kumar said not all could be revealed at this stage.

On the basis of information revealed by Singh during his interrogation, police busted a militants’ hideout in Shopian district and were carrying out an anti-militancy operation in Kokernag area of Anantnag district today, the police official said.

Singh's name had cropped up in the aftermath of the attack on Indian parliament. In a letter to his lawyer Sushil Kumar, Afzal Guru had accused Singh of first torturing him at a detention center and then forcing him to ferry a man named Mohammad to New Delhi days ahead of the attack on the Indian parliament. Mohammad turned out to be one of the attackers.

Guru had written that while his stay in New Delhi, both he and Mohammad would often get calls from Singh. Guru had also accompanied Mohammad to Karol Bagh area in Delhi to purchase a car.

However, Kumar said there was no record of these details in the investigations into parliament attack.

In 2006, Parvaiz Bukhari, as a freelance journalist, had interviewed Singh who had confessed to asking Guru to ferry Mohammad to New Delhi. The interview was then published in an anthology, December 13: A Reader.

At the news conference, Bukhari brought into Kumar’s notice his interview with Singh. “We will ask about him about this in interrogation,” the inspector general said.

In a Twitter post, noted Indian activist Kavita Krishnan said: “Davinder Singh admitted he tortured Afzal. Afzal was hanged for doing what Singh coerced him to do. Today Singh is said to be caught “headed to Delhi with terrorists”. Who protected Singh? Who are Singh’s shadowy bosses? Why wasn’t Singh’s role in Parliament attack ever probed?”