Friday, April 1 2005 08:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: With serious concerns being raised over leakage of names and addresses of the passengers travelling to Muzzaffarabad by the first bus from Srinagar on April 7, an inquiry has been launched into the development even as the Army assured all possible steps to ensure security.

"We are investigating the matter. It is premature to say anything at this time," police sources said in Srinagar yesterday (Mar 31, 2005).

Militants of four outfits had on Wednesday (Mar 30, 3005) circulated to the media in Srinagar list of passengers scheduled to take the first bus between Srinagar and Muzzaffarabad and threatened them against travelling.

"We are looking into the matter as to how the militants got the list of confirmed passengers...We believe that the list had been leaked across the border as most of the militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir have their base camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK)," a senior security official said on condition of anonymity.

Preliminary investigations suggested the militants have managed to lay their hands on the list of passengers in POK and circulated it among the news organisations in Srinagar to create fear among the people, the official said.

Army Chief J J Singh told reporters in Delhi that his force would do "whatever is possible" to provide security to passengers.

President of opposition National Conference Omar Abdullah expressed concern over the leak of the list of passengers and demanded an inquiry into the matter.

"It means that militants have access to the forms meant to maintain secrecy," said Omar who is among 10 politicians awaiting clearance from Pakistan to visit Muzzaffarabad.