ELECTION 99
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Centre asks J&K govt for info on 35 militants

A Special Correspondent in Delhi

The Centre has sent a list of the 35 detenues whose release has been demanded by the hijackers of Flight 814 to the Jammu and Kashmir government. These men are lodged in various jails in the state.

Highly placed sources said the Centre has asked the state government to furnish it with information on their present status, involvement in various crimes and the period of detention.

The sources indicated that the Centre wanted more information about these men to formulate its response to the hijackers. The hijackers have demanded the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, the Harkat-ul Ansar general secretary, and these 35 men. On Wednesday it dropped its demand for $ 200 million and the body of slain terrorist Sajjad Afghani.

Most of the detainees are foreign nationals and belong to the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Harkat ul Ansar.

While most of the terrorists are imprisoned in the Srinagar central jail, Kotbalwal and Hiranagar prisons, a few are jailed in prisons outside the state.

The state government has also beefed up the security around the jails where the militants are imprisoned.

Who are these men?

NIGHTMARE ON FLIGHT 814
The complete coverage

Tell us what you think of this report