Hizb says mosque attacker is Army informer

Srinagar, Nov 13 (UNI) The pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen, the single largest indigenous militant group operating in Jammu and Kashmir, today claimed that the youth, caught by the people and handed over to the Army for hurling a grenade outside a mosque at Tahab in Pulwama district on Friday, was ''actually an informer''.

Six people were killed and 40 others wounded in the grenade attack on a religious congregation near the Jamia Masjid at Tahab in Pulwama district of south Kashmir just before the Friday prayers.

In a statement to the local media here, Hizb spokesman Junaid-ul-Islam said the arrested youth, Ghulam Nabi Mir, was ''actually working with troops'' for the past one year.

''The blast was a handiwork of Indian troops. The conspiracy was exposed with the arrest of their informer (Mir). In his statement, Mir had said that he was asked by a Hizb member, Gulzar Ahmad alias Nika, to lob the grenade. But, Gulzar Ahmed was killed two years ago. No militant with the name of Gulzar Ahmed is active in the district,'' he claimed.

The spokesman said Mir was detained for a year after the troops seized arms from his house. ''He was released by the Army on the condition that he would work for them. Since then, he has been working for the Indian troops,'' he added.

''The Army with the help of a National Conference activist is trying to implicate the Hizb in the blast,'' the spokesman said.

In a news conference here, breakaway Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani also claimed that Mir was working for the Army.

UNI AG RR HT1509