Records indicating Fai's anti-national activities available: J-K police chief

Jammu, Apr.7 (ANI): The Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Kuldeep Khoda, said on Saturday that the state police possesses past records that indicate the anti-national activities of naturalised U.S. citizen from Pakistan Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai.

Addressing a news conference here, Khoda said the law would take its course and stringent action would be taken against Fai.

"We have certain records available, which indicate his (Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai) anti-national activities of the past, before he disappeared from here in early 80's and during the course of investigation as I mentioned, the SIT (Special Investigation Team) will find out, whatever actions are required to be taken under law, that will be taken. We cannot pre-decide these issues as to who has what role, who is culpable and who is not culpable. All this is based on the evidence which comes forward, which comes to notice during the course of scrutiny of records and understanding the legal implications of those actions," said Khoda.

Fai, an American of Kashmiri origin, has been awarded a two-year prison sentence by a U.S. judge after the former admitted to secretly receiving millions of dollars from Pakistan and its spy service while lobbying in the United States.

Fai, 62, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy and tax violations dating back to 1990 for a scheme to conceal some 3.5 million dollars that came from Pakistan to fund his lobbying efforts over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Fai served as the executive director of the Kashmiri American Council, which described itself as a non-profit organization run by Kashmiris and funded by Americans.

But U.S. authorities have said some of the Kashmiri American Council's money came from Pakistan's intelligence service, known as the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency or ISI, and that he failed to register as an agent of a foreign government as required under U.S. law.

The Pakistani government denied any knowledge of Fai's activities.

Meanwhile, Khoda hailed the police force and said that there was dip in the cases of infiltration.

"Home (Interior) Minister (Palaniappan Chidambaram) is visiting the state on 10th (April) and he will also be holding the security review meeting. Performance of Jammu and Kashmir police and other security forces has been quite commendable. This year there has been a continuous decrease in militancy related incidents. In the first three months of this year, total 26 militancy related incidents have been reported.However, last year the number of cases was 46. So, there has been a decrease of 45 percent in the number of cases this year," said Khoda.

Khoda lauded the locals for supporting the police in the state to maintain peace in the valley and curb militancy.

He said that security was stepped up to thwart efforts of the militants to intrude.

"As compared to last year, the performance of police in the first three months of this year has been better. Borders are under strict vigil and no case of successful infiltration has been reported so far in the whole state, which is also commendable," said Khoda.

Infiltration has been a major point of contention between India and Pakistan, and the army has claimed the activities have continued despite a ceasefire between the two armies and a three-metre-high barbed wire security fence along most of the 742-kilometre-long LoC (Line of Control).

However, Khoda added that training camps were still operating across the border.

"As far as activities across the border are concerned, as per our reports there has been no change in the intention, whether it is regarding the training camps or the launching pads. So, we have to be alert," added Khoda.

Khoda said that the figure of active number of militants is around 185-190 in the entire state, which is continuously declining.

New Delhi accuses Pakistan of arming, training and sending militants to the strife-torn Kashmir region.

India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947, have been slowly trying to repair relations and agreed to resume formal peace talks broken off in the wake of the Mumbai attack in 2008, which killed 166 people. (ANI)