Militant returns after 17 years from PoK, landed in J&K police net

Srinagar, Sep 22 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir police arrested a militant in the frontier district of Kupwara, who returned from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) along with his family after 17 years.

However, it was not clear how he managed to reach Kupwara alon gwith his family members despite unprecedented security arrangements on the border.

A police spokesman said one Ghulam Hassan Lone, a resident of Vilgam, Kupwara, was moving under suspicious circumstances at Wadar Balal Zachaldara. However, after being questioned Lone could not answer the questions by police.

He was later taken to police station along with his wife and children where he confessed that he had returned from PoK.

Police spokesman said Lone had gone to PoK for receiving arms training in 1990 alongwith thousands of other Kashmiri youths.

After receiving arms training, he got married to a local girl in POK and returned recently.

This was the first case that a militant alongwith his family gave slip to security forces on the border and reached the town.

More than 100 militants and their families, had surrendered before the troops on the Line of Control (LoC), mostly in Uri sector, immediately after their return from PoK during the past two years.

About two thousands others are waiting across to return here and join their families.

Almost all the mainstream political parties in the Jammu and Kashmir have appealed to the government to ensure safe return of Kashmiri youths who crossed into PoK and are eager to return and lead a normal life here.

UNI