NEW DELHI, May 26: A team from the Special Anti-Terrorist Cell have arrested an alleged Kashmiri militant belonging to the Al-Umar outfit. The police say that the militant, later identified as 30-year-old Mukhtiyar Ahmed Bhat alias Saba, was hiding in Delhi to escape the security forces in Kashmir.Officers of the Special Cell received information that a Kashmiri militant was hiding in Bhogal and working in a carpet-cleaning shop owned by a Kashmiri. They also learnt that the militant was to meet a contact at Main Bazar in Paharganj. Mukhtiyar was nabbed at around 7.30 p.m. yesterday.During interrogation, he reportedly said that he became a militant after coming into contact with Mukhtiyar Ahmed Wani, the area commander of Al-Umar, in June 1992. He also told the police that he suffered bullet injuries on his hip during an encounter with the security forces and went into hiding subsequently.The police add that the Al-Umar outfit is sponsored by the ISI of Pakistan and has links with Sikh terrorist groups like the Khalistan Liberation Force. Mukhtiyar was reportedly involved in the following encounters with security forces:In June 1992, he along with some associates attacked a BSF bunker at Bohari Kadal in Srinagar. Three civilians and one BSF personnel were seriously injured in the attack.In July 1992, he along with his associates attacked a BSF patrol near the Medical Institute in Soura and subsequently escaped from the spot.In the same month, he attacked a BSF bunker near Nowhatta and managed to flee. One civilian and one BSF officer were seriously injured in the incident.In October 1992, he and some of his associates attacked a BSF patrol at Dana Mazar. Mukhtiyar received bullet injuries in the cross-firing. He managed to get himself treated at a hospital under a false name and went into hiding after recovering.
