Arrested fidayeen was trained in Muzaffarabad

The union home ministry has claimed that the fidayeen (suicide attacker) who was captured from Peak View Hotel on Tuesday, after he and his accomplice engaged the security forces in a gun-battle for more then 25 hours, had crossed over to India in the last week of October.

"He is twenty years of age and belongs to Faisalabad in Pakistan. He had crossed over in the last week of October. This is the only information that I can share with you," said A K Mitra, special home secretary, incharge of internal security, at a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.

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On the sudden spurt of terrorist activity in the valley, he said militants were getting frustrated and trying to establish that they are very much around.

"Yes, there have been four explosions in last three days which includes attack on Gulam Hassan Mir, former housing, urban and tourism minister in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government, whose public rally was disrupted in Tangmarg-45 kilometers from Srinagar and foothills of Gulmarg. There has been a sudden spurt of activity in the month of November and this has nothing to do with the shifting of power," he claimed.

When asked about claims that after the earthquake, the terror camps in Pakistan had been demolished and large number of militants had been killed, Mitra said, "Yes, this is true and this was our information as well. But it seems that new camps have sprung up. Some of the terrorists had crossed over to India after the earthquake. The state government would draw up a strategy to counter the terrorist threat of violence. The centre can only issue guidelines."

PTI adds

Pakistani militant Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, a school dropout hailing from Mansoorabad in Faislabad town of Pakistan, said he got training on handling of arms and explosives for three months in a camp in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, before sneaking into India.

There were 100 boys undergoing training in the camp when the catastrophic earthquake last month devastated the area killing 25 of them, Bhat said.

He said he was assigned the task of carrying out subversive activities in crowded places.

Bhat, who had studied up to class seven, said he had embarked on the path of militancy for monetary gains. The ultra said he had joined Markaz-e-Dawa, political face of the LeT, last year after his father had passed away.