National   

Kerala police suspect ploy by terrorists

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Terrorist organisations operating in Kashmir could be asking their cadres to carry forged voter’s identity cards purportedly issued by governments of southern States, including that of far-flung Kerala, to possibly demonstrate that they have a pan-India support for their cause, official sources said.

The State police here have received faxed copies of the purportedly Kerala-issued electoral ID cards recovered from the bodies of suspected militants killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Lolab valley on October 7 and later on October 11.

They said it could also be a ploy on the part of such divisive and militant organisations to motivate the cadres of certain fundamentalist organisations in south India to plan and execute terrorist acts on their own against their State governments in support of the cause of subversive elements in Kashmir.

The police believe they could solve the case if they could identify the persons on the photographs on the forged cards. They also have the photographs of the four persons slain in two encounters with the Army in Kashmir. They said the photographs on the forged identity cards did not match those of the slain persons.

Official sources said the suspected links of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India elements in Kerala with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Kashmir had surfaced briefly in 2003 when the alleged terrorist outfit’s then southern commander, Muhammad Faisal Khan alias Abu Sultan, visited Malappuram district in Kerala.

Some of them view the latest developments as more evidence of the growing link of divisive elements in Kerala with organisations such as the LeT in Kashmir. The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have told the State police that they had recovered a religious book with notings in Malayalam on it from one of the suspected terrorists.

The police said that Rebi Kurien, whose name and address was found on the forged photograph imprinted voter’s ID card recovered from the body of one of the persons killed by security forces in the Lolab valley on Saturday, is alive at his home town in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district.

The 33-year-old man is a licensed explosives dealer and has no known links with any divisive organisations. On October 7, security forces in Kashmir had found a similarly forged voter’s ID card with the name and address of a 43-year-old resident of Malappuram district.

Officials said those who did the forgery could have got photocopies of the cards from some travel agent or vendors of mobile phone SIM cards. They said the process to identify the men on the photographs would be time consuming. They have cross-checked the photographs with those of missing persons on State police records and found no match.

The police also received faxed copies of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus tickets recovered from the bodies of the slain persons.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

CPI(M) condemns Adilabad killings
Modi’s open letter to Buddhadeb, Mamata
Three accused to be taken to Orissa
66 Sri Lankan fishermen held, 12 boats seized
India for expanding border trade with Myanmar
Camps in Dhule full of people who are too scared to return home
Modhvadia does a volte face
Kerala police suspect ploy by terrorists
Don’t play with fire, says Mamata
Six members of a family burnt alive in Adilabad
Man set on fire; suffers 50 per cent burns
“Situation in Assam returning to normal”
AASU opposes Mahanta’s return to AGP
Malegaon blast toll mounts to 6
INLD back in NDA, to contest Lok Sabha polls in Haryana with BJP

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu