Authorities have ordered a probe into the issue of a Pakistani boy being projected as a suicide bomber after it appeared that the 14-year-old had inadvertently crossed into the Indian side following a fight with his parents.
While there was no official reaction from the Border Security Force, some of its intelligence officials maintained that the arrested accused -- Noman Arshad -- should be brought to a Joint Interrogation Centre to ascertain the facts.
Arshad was presented before the media last week and the BSF claimed he was hiding behind bushes.
BSF Deputy Inspector General Mohammad Aquil had said during interrogation Arshad disclosed that he had undergone training at a camp in Peshawar where he learnt use of an explosive-laden jacket, bombs, pistols, missiles, rockets and other weapons.
However, the statement was completely different when he was handed over to the Punjab police. The boy had allegedly told the police that he had a fight with his parents over not going to school.
According to police sources, the boy was apparently moving into No-Man's Land when he was pulled into the Indian side by the BSF patrol party in Attari sector of Punjab.
Arshad, whom the BSF claimed to have learnt skills from the same camp visited by Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist involved in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, was also interrogated by the central security agencies, who also found nothing adverse against him.
© 2024 Rediff.com -