The sleuths of the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) claimed to have achieved a big success with the arrest of three militants, including two Pakistan nationals, from the Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday. The Pakistani nationals had attended the training camp of Hizbul Mujahideen to carry out subversive activities in India. According to an official communique released on Thursday, Uttar Pradesh ATS was receiving intelligence for some time that some Pakistani citizens were going to enter India through the Nepal border with the help of Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Intelligence was also received that these people had the intention of carrying out a terrorist incident in India and had taken training in the training camp of Hizbul Mujahideen with the help of ISI. When the said intelligence was developed by the field unit of ATS, Gorakhpur, through electronic and physical surveillance, it came to light that two Pakistani nationals were going to enter India through a secret route through Sheikh Farenda, a village situated on the Indo-Nepal border. On Wednesday, the field unit of ATS, Gorakhpur, arrested three accused from Nepal-India (Sonauli border). The accused were identified as Mohammad Altaf Bhat son of Khijar Mohammad Bhat, resident of House No. 559, Sadiqabad, Rawalpindi, Pakistan; Syed Ghazanfar son of Syed Mohammad Syed, resident of  Taramani Chowk  Irfanabad, F-87, House No. 19, Jamia Ali Murtaza Mosque, Islamabad, Pakistan; and Nasir Ali, son of Ghulam Ahmed Ali, a resident of Karali Pora Hawal Srinagar Jammu & Kashmir. Mohammad Altaf Bhat later revealed during interrogation that he was born in Kashmir and after the Kargil war, he went to Pakistan for jihad training along with a militant of Hizbul Mujahideen. Altaf told the interrogators that he always wanted Kashmir to become a part of Pakistan. For this purpose, Altaf reached Pakistan and took jihadi training in Hizbul Mujahideens Muzaffarabad camp under the guidance of ISI. Altaf told the interrogators that Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, in collaboration with Kashmir-based terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, was recruiting Indian people in its organisation to spread terror in India. Altaf was influenced by reading Hizbul Mujahideens literature and listening to the speeches of amir/ustads of other jihadi organisations. Altaf took arms training in Hizbuls camp and stayed in the camp for a long time and worked under the guidance of the commanders there. Altaf was instructed by Hizbul Mujahideen conduits to secretly reach Jammu & Kashmir in India via Nepal where he would be informed about the further plan. Altaf met Nasir in Kathmandu, Nepal as per the instructions of the ISI handler. Nasir provided fake Indian Aadhaar cards to Altaf and Ghazanfar and it was Nasir who told them to come to India via Sheikh Farenda village. Nasir Ali is a resident of Kashmir and he got in touch with a person named Salim of ISI through WhatsApp. Salim told Nasir that his uncle was sending another person from Pakistan along with Ghazanfar, who would meet him in Kathmandu, Nepal and he had to take him to Jammu & Kashmir, India. ATS claimed that an FIR (No 04/24) under sections 419/420/467/468/471/120B/121A of the Indian Penal Code, 13/18/38 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and 14/14C of Foreigners Act, 1946 has been registered at ATS police station in Lucknow and further legal action is being taken by presenting the arrested accused before the Court. The ATS will seek their police custody remand of the accused to grill them and extract details of future subversive activities carried out by the held accused.

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