Arrested JeM militants had Rahul Gandhi as their target

The three Jaish-e- Mohammad militants arrested in Lucknow had Rahul Gandhi on their target, police said.

The three Jaish-e- Mohammad militants arrested in Lucknow had Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on their target, police said on Saturday, as TV channels beamed their ‘confession’ that they were planning to kidnap the young MP.

A senior Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force official said that ‘it has now become clear that the militants, trained specially in kidnapping or taking hostage a VVIP politician, had Rahul Gandhi on their target’ as their aim was ‘very big’.

“Our plan was to abduct Rahul Gandhi,” one of the militants was shown as saying in the ‘confessional tapes’ telecast by television channels.

The suspected militants claimed that they were planning the kidnapping on directions by ‘people in Pakistan’ to secure the release of 42 prisoners.

“We were given a list (of 42 prisoners) and asked to memorise it,” a militant said.

He said they were trained in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

The militants also ‘confessed’ that their plan was to throw grenades and spray bullets and abduct the Congress MP.

The terrorists, all belonging to Pakistan and identified as Mohammad Abid alias Faate, Yusuf alias Faisal and Mirza Rashid Baig were arrested from the Gudumba police station area in Lucknow early yesterday and a large number of sophisticated arms and ammunition and RDX seized.