Author: Jigna Vora
Publication: Mumbai Mirror
Date: July 20, 2006
Introduction: ATS believes the four persons
detained in Rajasthan close to India's border with Pakistan on Tuesday could
be part of the Pak XI that went missing after the Mohali Test in 2005
The four people detained on the India-Pakistan
border in Rajasthan on Tuesday evening might not have anything to do with
the July 11 serial blasts, after all. They may be cricket fans who came to
India for the Indo-Pak series and overstayed. However, the possibility is
not entirely ruled out.
Sources in the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS)
said they believe the four were part of a group of around 100 people who crossed
the border to watch an India-Pakistan Test match played in Mohali, Punjab,
on March 8-12 last year.
"We have information that 11 members
of this group of 100 did not return to Pakistan and might have stayed for
some time in Jogeshwari. During this time, they somehow got involved in the
planning of the July 11 serial blasts," said a senior ATS official.
However, the ATS is also considering the possibility
of them being smugglers who operate on the Rajasthan-Pakistan border. Other
possibilities have also not been ruled out.
"They didn't have any reason to stay
back in India after the Test match. We are investigating what made them stay
back," an official said.
The Four Men
ATS sources were tight-lipped about the identity of the four saying the investigation
could be compromised. They were picked up from Jaisalmer on Tuesday evening,
in a joint operation by the ATS and the Border Security Force (BSF) following
a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau, just as they were about to cross the
border into Pakistan.
An ATS officer had earlier told this paper
that they had 'a role, a significant role, in the July 11 blasts'.
