Srinagar:
Sayed Liyaqat Shah, who the Delhi police claims was planning a terror attack on the capital, is a former militant who was looking to return to Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan under the state government's amnesty policy, show documents.
NDTV has accessed documents purportedly processed by the J&K government that list Liyaqat as 51st among 223 individuals seeking to return to India under the amnesty scheme to rehabilitate former militants.
The Delhi police and the Jammu and Kashmir government have held completely opposite positions on Liyakat. The Delhi Police says he intended to carry out a terror attack and was caught just in time.
The Jammu and Kashmir government says the 45-year-old had applied for return to Kashmir last year and his name was cleared after a thorough check confirmed he did not participate in terrorist activities.
The union government has now tasked the National Investigation Agency with finding out the truth about Liyakat. The growing unease over his arrest has, according to sources, also prompted the union government to review the surrender and rehabilitation policy for militants and ensure there is better coordination between states.
Liyakat was arrested from near the Indo-Nepal border on March 20. The Delhi police says he had been assigned to execute a terror strike by a senior commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen.
That Liyakat was found with his family at the time of his arrest has been sighted by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to contest the Delhi police's claims.
"If a man comes to attack a shopping mall, will he come with his wife and children? I am hearing for the first time that a militant came to attack holding the hand of his wife and carrying weapons in the other hand, as if going for a picnic," Mr Abdullah said yesterday.