Author: M Saleem Pandit
Publication: Hindustan Times
Dated: February 15, 200
Introduction: Army: Arrest Of Rebel Reveals
Money Transfers Across Border
Between trying to maintain peace and improving
its tarnished image following the fake encounters, Army now has
another headache to deal with - a Maoist and Lashkar-e-Taiba nexus in Kashmir.
The arrest of Pasang Lama - a Maoist, according
to the Army - has revealed that the Lashkar-eTaiba links with the
Nepalese insurgents are lunch deeper than suspected earlier.
Interrogation has led the Army to the conclusion
that Maoists, posing as Pashmina traders, may be paying huge sums of
money to Lashkar-e-Taiba men operating in the Valley for supplies
of arms and ammunition to sustain the insurgency in the neighbouring
country.
Defence spokesman Lt Col V K Mathur on Tuesday
said Pasang Lama was arrested along with another Kashmiri - Mohammed Younis,
identified as a courier and pointsperson for the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pasang Lama
is believed to have been negotiating a Rs.5 lakh deal with Lashkar-e-Taiba
men operating in Rafiabad belt in Baramulla district when he was arrested.
"Pasang Lama was in Baramulla district
for negotiations with LeT cadre. He was arrested at Binner village. His interrogation
has revealed the deeper links of Maoist with terrorists operating in Kashmir,"
said Mathur.
Police sources said Pasang Lama, who has been
remanded to judicial custody, had brought a cheque of Rs.2.77 lakh to hand
over to the LeT. "This was the first instalment that was to be paid for
the arms," the source said.
"His interrogation has revealed that
he was moving in the disguise of a Pashmina trader for the past five years
and was operating out of Srinagar and neighbouring towns," Mathur said,
adding that he had confessed to having links with "terrorists as well
as some affluent Valley citizens".