New Delhi: In order to repair ties with Pakistan, the UPA government had in 2010 freed JeM terrorist Shahid Latif, handler of the deadly Pathankot terror attack.
According to a report in Times of India, Latif (47) was in Indian jails for 11 years for terror acts. Even in October 2003, he was sentenced to 16 years of vigorous imprisonment by a Prevention of Terrorism Court in Srinagar. Also a fine of Rs 40,000 was levied upon him for terrorist activities. But in 2010, he was among 25 militants who were released by the Manmohan Singh government in an attempt to mend ties with Pakistan.
All 25 militants belonging to JeM, LeT were lodged in jails in Jammu, Srinagar, Agra, Varanasi, Naini (UP) and Tihar, and were deported to Pakistan through Wagah on May 28, 2010.
It also said that Latif was on the list of militants that JeM wanted freed along with its chief Maulana Masood Azhar in December 1999 when they hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814. The Vajpayee government, at that time, released Azhar but refused to free Latif. But in 2010, Latif was released despite the fact that the NDA government had refused to release him.
Currently, Latif is wanted by NIA in the Pathankot attack. He was the ‘handler’ of the 4 suicide attackers who stormed Pathankot IAF airbase on January 2. He is believed to have arranged the weapons, clothes and shoes of the militants.
Latif is considered a close aide of JeM chief Masood Azhar and heads the Sialkot region. He was the main handler who launched terrorist outfit JeM cadres in India.
Meanwhile, the NIA has sent its first ‘formal request’ to Pakistan through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for a visit to Islamabad to carry forward its investigation into the terror case.
The NIA wants to record statements of Masood Azhar, his brother Abdul Rauf, handlers Shahid Latif and Kashif Jaan.
A joint investigation team (JIT) from Pakistan, including an ISI officer, had visited India from March 27-31 to conduct its own probe into the attack. They held meetings with NIA officers in New Delhi and were also allowed access to the Pathankot airbase.
