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Published 20 Mar, 2013 02:01am

Pakistan link alleged in Kashmir attack

SRINAGAR: Police in India-held Kashmir alleged on Tuesday they had arrested four people including a Pakistani member of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) over an attack that killed five policemen.

Abdul Gani Mir, occupied Kashmir’s top law enforcement officer, said investigators had concluded that the attack was planned by LeT, a group blamed for mass killings in Mumbai in 2008.

“The arrested include Zubair alias Talha Zarar of Lashkar-e-Taiba who came from Multan,” Inspector General of Police Mir told reporters.

Two heavily armed militants attacked a group of personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force in the compound of a police-run school last week, killing five of them and injuring 10 others including four civilians.

The Pakistani government rejected what it called “baseless accusations” but said India should officially share any concrete evidence.

“Such allegations and blame game will not benefit any country and will complicate the path of understanding. India should share with us any solid evidence,” foreign ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said.

In a call to local media after the assault, the deadliest attack on security forces in nearly five years, the militant group Hizbul Mujahideen claimed responsibility.

Mir alleged that the militants had infiltrated from the Pakistani side of the heavily militarised informal border of Kashmir in January and February to “cause disturbance” in Srinagar.

Three others arrested include Pradeep Singh and two “former militants”, one of whom, Bashir Ahmad Mir, was released from prison in 2008.

“They provided logistical support for the attack,” Mir said at a press conference. —AFP

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