Nabbed LeT terrorist says Pakistan lied about Kashmir

Srinagar: A Pakistani terrorist, who was captured alive by the Indian Army during a live encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri sector, has asked his handlers in the neighbouring country to take him back to his mother.

"I appeal to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) area commander, the ISI and the Pakistan Army to take me back to my mother just like they sent me here (India)," Ali Babar Patra, the teenage terrorist from Pakistan, said in a video message released by the Army here on Wednesday. Patra was nabbed by the Army during a live encounter in the Uri sector on September 26, when he asked for his life to be spared. Another Pakistani infiltrator was killed in the nine-day operation that began on September 18. In the video message, Patra said the Pakistan Army, the ISI and the LeT were spreading lies about the situation in Kashmir.

"We were told that the Indian Army is carrying out a bloodbath, but everything is peaceful here. I want to tell my mother that the Indian Army has taken good care of me," he said. He also said the behaviour of the officers and jawans of the Indian Army with the locals who visit the camp where he was lodged was extremely good. "I can hear the azaan (call for prayers) on the loudspeakers five times a day. The behaviour of the Indian Army is completely opposite to that of the Pakistan Army. This makes me feel that there is peace in Kashmir," Patra said.

"On the contrary, they take advantage of our helplessness in Pakistani Kashmir to send us here," he added. Giving details of his initiation into terror ranks, Patra said he lost his father seven years ago and had to drop out of school due to financial constraints. "I took a job in a garment factory in Sialkot where I met Anas who used to recruit people for the LeT. Due to my situation, I went with him. He paid me Rs 20,000 and promised to pay another Rs 30,000 later on," he added. Patra also shared the details of the weapons training he underwent with the Pakistan Army and the ISI at Camp Khyber Delihabibullah.

Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday claimed that she has been put under house arrest again as she had planned to visit Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The former chief minister had on Tuesday alleged that Army personnel had thrashed a family in Tral town of Pulwama and injured a female member. Mufti said she was going to meet the family on Wednesday.

"Locked up in my house today yet again for attempting to visit the village in Tral allegedly ransacked by army. This is the real picture of Kashmir that visiting dignitaries must be shown instead of GOIs sanitised & guided picnic tours," Mufti tweeted.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief also posted a picture of a security forces vehicle allegedly blocking the main gate of her residence on Gupkar road. On Tuesday, Mufti had tweeted: "Army from Yagwani camp in Tral ransacked homes & ruthlessly thrashed a family last night. The daughter owing to her serious injuries was admitted to hospital. Not the first time that civilians from this village have been beaten up by army in this area."