Lashkar, Hizb deny arrested Kashmiris were militants

Srinagar, May 3 (UNI) Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfits have dismissed claims of the Jammu and Kashmir police that they had busted a ''combined'' module of the two groups by arresting 13 ultras, including a woman.

In a statement to the local media here, LeT spokesman Dr Abdullah Ghaznavi rejected the police claims of killing innocent people, terming the allegations a smear campaign to discredit the outfit.

He also dismissed the police claims that an LeT module was busted, saying the arrested people were in no way associated with his group. ''None of the arrested and named by police belonged to the LeT. We have never killed any innocent civilian. Islam does not allow the killing of innocents,'' the spokesman added.

He said police hold the media briefings only to malign the militants and the Hurriyat leaders with an agenda to distort the ground reality.

In a separate statement, Hizb spokesman Junaid-ul Islam also rejected police claims of arresting 13 militants, including a woman.

''Police have dubbed them as members of the Hizb. This is a sheer lie. None of the arrested has any association with the Hizb. None with the name of Firdous is our district commander as claimed by the police,'' he added.

The spokesman said the Hizb had no connection with those who attacked the residence of moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on January 15 this year.

The 'Save Kashmir Movement' had already claimed the responsibility for the grenade attack on the house of the Mirwaiz, he added.

The spokesman also ridiculed police claim that the arrested woman belonged to the Hizb. ''We don't believe in recruiting women in the armed struggle. Police claims are baseless,'' he said.

UNI