Sleepy village baffled by link to captured terrorist

[smeaglegolum]

If this is true, this doesn't explain how irresponsible the Indian media, the Indian release info has been. There's been statements all the terrorists were from Pakistan. Yes, the captured terrorist might be spreading disinformation, or saying what his interrogators want to here. He is only 19 or so. Sooner or later he'll be tracked down. If it isn't Faridkot, after all that's been said, the media, the police, the military, the politicians in India are going to look pretty stupid, and lose credibility on an international scale. All the terrorist's claims can be verified by reporters regarding Pakistan. That's why the Indian media is making a fool of itself currently.

For me, it definitely looks like a psy-ops. GoI doesn't give a damn about the reputation of these private news channels. The only one I trust is PTI news. And I don't see PTI making any such tall claims, it is the private channels and news papers that are making these. Only time will tell what is the truth. Getting the captured terrorist's name wrong at least five times and his changing confessions indicates that this is all a disinformation campaign to actually protect real truth and also to keep these press guys hands busy.

I for one having the last laugh .

 

[Kharian_Beast]

You still didn't get my point. I'm saying that, all this faridkot thing might be a disinformation to confuse the enemy, a psy-ops propaganda. Actual location of that guy must have been kept secret, because there was no official statement from the GoI regarding this guy or faridkot.

If Indians are indeed engaged in psy-ops instead of mutual cooperation and investigation then I am afraid my fears were well founded, India has again neglected it's people and finding justice by focusing malintent campaigns on Pakistan.

 

[Kharian_Beast]

I agree on the report but Terrorists claims still needs to be verified on grounds. The advantage is he is alive.

The disadvantage is that information is quite obviously being extracted under duress by Indian authorities. There is no point in keeping a man alive just to torture him into connecting governments of Pakistan or other neighbors with this tragedy.

 

[smeaglegolum]

If Indians are indeed engaged in psy-ops instead of mutual cooperation and investigation then I am afraid my fears were well founded, India has again neglected it's people and finding justice by focusing malintent capmaigns on Pakistan.

As I said to AM before, both of our govts. doesn't trust one another. If India accepts to a joint investigation, what is the guarantee that ISI/GoP, based on the presented evidence, will not cover-up its tracks leading to Pakistani elements/ISI.

My guess is, GoI might be giving all the wrong information to confuse enemy and keep them busy, while at the same time try to gather as much evidence based on the real information given by the captured terrorist.

 

[Kharian_Beast]

My guess is, GoI might be giving all the wrong information to confuse enemy and keep them busy, while at the same time try to gather as much evidence based on the real information given by the captured terrorist.

This would only help the real culprits go underground, allowing them to take all the necessary time to destroy evidence and close down shop so to speak. Who can say if what the captured terrorist is saying is "real information" anyways? Afterall there is only 1 gunman alive, no one can corroborate his story, no one.

 

[smeaglegolum]

This would only help the real culprits go underground, allowing them to take all the necessary time to destroy evidence and close down shop so to speak. Who can say if what the captured terrorist is saying is "real information" anyways? Afterall there is only 1 gunman alive, no one can corroborate his story, no one.

There are ways to make him speak real information and there will be always background verification of what he is saying, so that one can call it bluff or not. Finally, he will be put under truth serum,for sure some real information will come out from that.
People might go underground, but the circumstantial evidence like telephone intercepts, satellite phone intercepts etc will not go anywhere. FBI is helping in getting all the information out of this.

Anyways, we have to wait for some more time to see if the GoI has substantial evidence to implicate LeT or any other organization.

 

[Captain03]

this shows how ridiculous india's allegations are
when will india ever learn

 

[PeaceForAll]

First, Some captured terrorist says he is from a certain village - so we do not know if he is telling the truth and we do not know if the person interrogating is also telling the truth!!

and moreover, all I can see is plain suspicion - India claims there are strong links to ppl in Pakistan and has proof for it - and Pak says "Send the proof".

Btw, was there any action taken against LeT in recent times in Pak? Its been declared a terrorist outfit but there are reports its opened under different umbrella names.

I know most of my brothers will disagree with this but I really have to say we need to flush the people who are creating all this mess - for us and for others (am not particualrly bothered abt others but then, I do not want ppl looking suspiciously at me in other countries just because I happen to be from a country where ppl think most terrorists now hide!!) I really feel suffocated when I get such looks..

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Captured Mumbai attacker’s identity eludes investigators

Faridkot, Pakistan

For the past three days Pakistani intelligence agents and police have been combing this sleepy village in search of clues to the identity of the lone gunman captured in the Mumbai (Bombay) terror attacks, residents said on Monday.

Indian officials and news media officials identified him variously as Ajmal Amir Kamal, Azam Amir Kasav, or Azam Ameer Qasab, and Indian news media quoted police as saying that the alleged killer’s home village was in Faridkot, near the city of Multan in the southern part of Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Local residents, however, are bewildered and alarmed. They said there was no one of that surname in this village, and no missing resident who fit the pictures and description shown in the Indian news media.

“All the agencies have been here and the (police) special branch,” said village elder Mehboob Khan Daha, referring to Pakistan’s plainclothes counterterror police. “We have become very worried. What’s this all about?” Agents from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) also appeared to be present on Monday, questioning locals.

Shown a picture of the alleged militant, Daha said: “That’s a smart-looking boy. We don’t have that sort around here.”

The peasant farmers who inhabit this dusty backwater own small parcels of land and have little education. Water buffalos and goats roam down the dirt tracks of the village. Men sit around gossiping on traditional woven rope beds, placed out in the open, wearing the usual baggy shalwar kameez pajama suits, some with turbans.

Roughly built small brick homes and little mud huts dot the village, which has a population of about 3,000. It’s about 33 miles east of the nearest large city, Multan, and a few miles outside the town of Kanewal.

“There are no jihadis here,” Ijaz Ahmed, a farmer, chimed in, sitting by Daha. “I can think of maybe 10 or 20 people here who have even been as far as Multan.”

The Faridkot link is a key element in the evidence cited by Indian officials that the attackers of Mumbai came from Pakistan.

The captured terror suspect was said to come from Faridkot. He was said to be 21 and to speak fluent English. A photograph of him shows a modern-looking young man swaggering in Western clothing, with an AK-47 in hand.

In Faridkot, no one appeared to be able to speak much English, and most could converse only in a dialect of the provincial language, Punjabi. None of the villagers recognized the face in the photograph, nor could they think of anyone mysteriously missing from the village.

They said the intelligence agents wanted to know if there was any presence of the radical Deobandi or Alhe Hadith religious movements in the village, to which the answer was a flat “no.”

The police also came with a list of five names to probe, villagers said, including Ajmal, Amir, Kamal and Azam, all common names in Pakistan. While there are five Ajmals in the village, all were present except one who’s living in the provincial capital of Lahore, and none fit the description of the militant. The only Azam in the village is an elderly retired railway worker.

One of the Ajmals, a young man, looked scared. He’s worked in a nearby tea factory for the past 12 years, he said. The police and intelligence agencies have been to his house demanding to know his whereabouts.

“All I ever do is go to work, which is about three kilometers (two miles) away. I have never been beyond Kanewal (the closest town),” said Mohammad Ajmal. “I’m uneducated. I never went to school for even one day.”

Faridkot is in a part of Punjab that’s known for extremist activity, but the village showed no signs of being a hotbed of militancy. A notice on a board at the entrance to the village mosque declares that members of the fundamentalist Tablighi Jamaat “are not permitted.”

To add to the confusion, there are several other places called Faridkot in the Punjab, although this village seemed to be the most likely Faridkot, because it’s near Multan. There’s also a well-known Faridkot in India, just across the border in the Indian half of the Punjab province.

An exasperated local police chief, Kamran Khan, who sent his men twice to Faridkot (the one outside Kanewal), told McClatchy: “Whatever we’re doing to investigate, we’re doing off our own initiative. No definitive information has come to us from any official channel. We’re still not clear this is the right Faridkot.”

Even the nearest hard-line madrassah, or Islamic school, to Faridkot – the Darul Uloom at Kabirwala, a half-hour drive away – didn’t appear to be a den of violent extremism that might’ve influenced a aspiring militant from Faridkot. This institution schooled Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, an extremist who founded one of Pakistan’s most violent militant groups, Sipah-e-Sahaba. On an unannounced visit Monday, however, classrooms full of students learning the Koran and the sayings of the prophet Mohammad were all that was to be seen.

“We are praying that peace prevails between India and Pakistan,” said Irshad Ahmed, the head of Darul Uloom. “It is wrong to kill innocent people. Islam doesn’t allow it.”

He added, however: “American bombardment also kills innocents.”

Captured Mumbai attacker?s identity eludes investigators | csmonitor.com

 

[roadrunner]

there's no way he's from Faridkot as he revealed during his torture interrogations.

I'd like the papers to comment more of his Kavala saffron things though. Muslims don't wear that. If a disguise, he does not need it once he's started shooting. Odd that a radical Muslim would want to die with a Hindu piety symbol on him.

More importantly, they had ID cards on them, apparently identifying themselves as Pakistanis. What's the point in disguising oneself as a Hindu when you're carrying Pakistani ID cards? Those ID cards are planted obviously since that saffron thing was clearly put on by him on his own. Logical thing to do would be to have fake Indian ID cards.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

As I said to AM before, both of our govts. doesn't trust one another. If India accepts to a joint investigation, what is the guarantee that ISI/GoP, based on the presented evidence, will not cover-up its tracks leading to Pakistani elements/ISI.

My guess is, GoI might be giving all the wrong information to confuse enemy and keep them busy, while at the same time try to gather as much evidence based on the real information given by the captured terrorist.

If India does not provide any evidence, then why should Pakistan act on anything India demands?

Surely you see why this argument is flawed. You do not want to conduct a joint investigation because you fear information will be leaked, but any rational individual will agree that for a State to take action against its citizens, there is a minimum requirement of having actionable evidence, lest innocent individuals lose their liberty for naught. No one in the international community is going to agree with the contention that Pakistan act without evidence, so evidence will indeed eventually have to be shared, and then verified.

Therefore the argument of a joint investigation resulting in 'leakages' does not really hold. In fact, it would appear to be the quickest way of moving forward, since all information obtained can be verified and suspects detained as we proceed with the investigation, rather than waiting for India to finish it, give Pakistan evidence, and then for Pakistan to verify it and then act against the suspects.

Quite frankly the GoI knows this, the leaks and 'list' are nothing but a show put up to pressure Pakistan and try and build up international opinion against it, which in itself is a hostile act on the part of India IMO

 

[smeaglegolum]

If India does not provide any evidence, then why should Pakistan act on anything India demands?

Surely you see why this argument is flawed. You do not want to conduct a joint investigation because you fear information will be leaked, but any rational individual will agree that for a State to take action against its citizens, there is a minimum requirement of having actionable evidence, lest innocent individuals lose their liberty for naught. No one in the international community is going to agree with the contention that Pakistan act without evidence, so evidence will indeed eventually have to be shared, and then verified.

Therefore the argument of a joint investigation resulting in 'leakages' does not really hold. In fact, it would appear to be the quickest way of moving forward, since all information obtained can be verified and suspects detained as we proceed with the investigation, rather than waiting for India to finish it, give Pakistan evidence, and then for Pakistan to verify it and then act against the suspects.

Quite frankly the GoI knows this, the leaks and 'list' are nothing but a show put up to pressure Pakistan and try and build up international opinion against it, which in itself is a hostile act on the part of India IMO

My dear friend you are being Naive. How India will trust Pakistan. There are quite a few incidents happened that makes one to think if Pakistan to be trusted or not.

When Lahore declaration and peace process was happening, PA was busy trekking the Kargil Hills. It is nothing but backstabbing.
What happened after Kabul embassy blast even after US has implicated the hand of ISI. GoP was in complete denial. Did something happen after that?.
Even US president Bush told in unequivocal terms that whatever intelligence on Targets passed on to ISI directly goes to target.
The way Musharraf did the double dealing of hunting with hounds while running with hares in his WOT role.
GoP has always denied that it was sponsoring terrorism, but now your president accepts that it it was in past and now Paksitan is starting with a clean slate.

GoP should do something to close this Trust deficit and how it will start is a matter of discussion.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

My dear friend you are being Naive. How India will trust Pakistan. There are quite a few incidents happened that makes one to think if Pakistan to be trusted or not.

When Lahore declaration and peace process was happening, PA was busy trekking the Kargil Hills. It is nothing but backstabbing.
What happened after Kabul embassy blast even after US has implicated the hand of ISI. GoP was in complete denial. Did something happen after that?.
Even US president Bush told in unequivocal terms that whatever intelligence on Targets passed on to ISI directly goes to target.
The way Musharraf did the double dealing of hunting with hounds while running with hares in his WOT role.
GoP has always denied that it was sponsoring terrorism, but now your president accepts that it it was in past and now Paksitan is starting with a clean slate.

GoP should do something to close this Trust deficit and how it will start is a matter of discussion.

The trust deficit exists on both sides, as pointed out.

But if I understand you correctly, you are arguing that Pakistan merely hand over whoever India demands without asking for any evidence?

 

[smeaglegolum]

The trust deficit exists on both sides, as pointed out.

But if I understand you correctly, you are arguing that Pakistan merely hand over whoever India demands without asking for any evidence?

I think India has submitted in the case of Dawood and asked GoP to extradite him not just once but several times. And regarding Masood Azhar, he was a known convict and he was in Jail, eventually exchanged as part of the Hijack deal.

Here is something about the evidence submitted in Dawood who has been already labeled as Global Terrorist by US.

India: No further proof needed for Dawood's extradition

PTI | May 20, 2008 | 23:26 IST

India said on Tuesday that it had provided adequate evidence to Pakistan to back its demand for the extradition of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and there was no need for it to provide further proof.

Visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said there was an Interpol Red Corner notice for Ibrahim's arrest and there were United Nations Security Council resolutions on his status.

Menon said the matter was now "past" the stage of providing evidence. India and Pakistan were both working against terrorism and need to take "effective action" against the menace, Menon told a news conference after his talks here with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir to review the composite dialogue process.

Menon said the two countries need to deal with terrorism. "There are dangerous people out there who mean us harm. They have shown their capacity to do harm," he said.

Asked if India has submitted a fresh list of wanted terrorists to Pakistan, Menon said New Delhi has already given it to Islamabad. On the Samjhautha blast, he said India had exchanged information on the issue during the anti-terrorism dialogue with Pakistan.

On Siachen, Menon said it needed to be converted into a "mountain of peace" and the issue needed to be dealt with in context of environmental consequence.

Under the composite dialogue, India and Pakistan have had discussions with "unparallelled depth, intensity and quality" on Jammu and Kashmir which has helped "narrow down the differences", Menon said.

The dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir has helped evolve ways in which the two countries can cooperate, he said, citing the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakot bus services as examples in this regard.

"We have made progress in dealing with issues that affect the welfare of people there (in Jammu and Kashmir)," the Foreign Secretary said. He refused to speak further, saying the Foreign Ministers of the two countries would discuss the issue further tomorrow.

During the talks, the Indian side proposed making the fortnightly Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalakot bus services weekly, early launch of truck service on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route and liberalising the permit system by making it multi-entry.

New Delhi, at the same time, voiced concern over continued cross-border terrorism and infiltration.

Despite all this, GoP has never shown sincerity in handing over this terrorists to India. If GoP is really interested in fighting terrorism, this could be the right chance and show that it is sincere in its efforts.

 

[Robin234]

. There is no point in keeping a man alive just to torture him into connecting governments .

hmm .Whether we torture him or give 3rd Degree or kill him by torturing him or give him capital punishment .Don't forget that he was caught red handed .

I will rather opt for capital punishment for such a guy in a barbaric fashion like what Hitler does in his times .