NIA takes over DSP case, to probe 2005 letter asking ‘safe passage’ for terrorist

JAMMU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday said that it has taken over the probe against the suspended Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Davinder Singh, who was arrested while ferrying three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists out of the valley, even as the agency is also set to probe a letter written by Singh in 2005 which asked for ‘safe passage’ to one of the four terrorists arrested by Delhi Police on their way from Kashmir to Delhi.
Singh was arrested last weekend along with Naveed Babu, self-styled district commander of banned Hizbul Mujahideen, a new recruit Atif and an advocate Irfan Mir.
An NIA spokesperson today said that it has re-registered the case against Singh and the three terrorists, who were arrested along with arms and ammunition while travelling in a car near Qazigund on the national highway in south Kashmir.
The NIA registered the case after it received orders from the Union Home Ministry, he said, adding that the anti-terror agency has started the investigation.
“After receiving MHA’s order, NIA has re-registered this case as RC no 01/2020/NIA and started the investigation”, the federal terror probe agency said.
Meanwhile, in another sensational revelation, the Intelligence Bureau has found a letter written by Singh in 2005 which asked for "safe passage" to one of the four terrorists arrested by Delhi Police on the Delhi-Gurugram border on their way from Kashmir to Delhi.
This comes in the wake of reports that Singh had helped other terrorists as well even as it has been revealed that Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru had mentioned his name in a letter to his advocate.
The NIA will now also probe Singh's 2005 letter, credible sources said.
IB sources said Delhi Police had arrested four terrorists after a gunfight from the Gurugram-Delhi border on July 1, 2005 and recovered arms and ammunition besides fake currency of face-value of Rs 50,000 from their possession following a tip-off received from the Military Intelligence on June 22, 2005.
Two of the four terrorists were identified as Saqib Rehman aka Masood, Hazi Ghulam Moinuddin Dar aka Zahid.
"During the searches, the police seized a sketch of the Palam Air Base and also a letter written by Singh from Dar," said a source.
"The letter, signed by Singh, who was then Deputy SP, CID in Jammu and Kashmir, said that Dar, a resident of Pulwama, was allowed to carry a pistol (registration no. K 14363) and one wireless set for operation duty. The letter asked all security agencies to give 'safe passage' for any verification," the source said.
The letter was written on Singh's letter pad.
The source further said that a week after Dar's arrest, Delhi Police went to Srinagar and raided his house from where it recovered 10 Under barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) grenades and a wireless set no. 144057. The police team recovered an AK-47, 2 magazines, 130 live cartridges, two hand grenades and three UBGL grenades at the instance of Saquib Rahman from his two-storey building in Srinagar.
The source said that in its chargesheet in the court, Delhi Police claimed that Dar and Rahman had revealed that they were working as per the directions of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). They had also given information about their associates in Jammu and Kashmir and the arms and ammunition kept by them.
Delhi Police later arrested Bashir Ahmed Shah, Nazir Ahmed Sofi, Abdul Mazid Bhat, Abdul Qayoom Khan and Birendra Kumar Singh in the case.
The source said Singh later told Delhi Police on phone that he had indeed written such a letter for Dar.
Sources said the letter written by Singh raises many questions: "How did Singh allow a private person to travel with a wireless set? How did Singh justify his letter for Dar, against whom the Central Military Intelligence had alerted Delhi Police?"
Singh, who was posted in the anti-hijacking squad at the Srinagar international airport, was suspended from service on January 13 and is likely to be stripped of all his awards, including a gallantry medal, for anti-militancy operations on August 15, 2019.
Earlier, during his interrogation Singh hinted at the role of many more police personnel involved in helping the terrorists.
Earlier, Singh, who was part of the special anti-militancy Special Operations Group (SOG) in 2002 and was also named by Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, in a letter to his lawyer, where he also suggested that another Parliament attacker Mohammad was taken to Delhi on the direction of the police officer.