Friday, July 15 2005 14:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ayodhya/Jammu: In a major breakthrough in the terror strike at the make-shift temple in Ayodhya, Police bursted a Lashkar-e-Toiba module behind the attack and arrested five of its cadres from Mendhar in Jammu and Kashmir.

Police have arrested five persons for providing logistical support to the LeT militants who carried out the attack on July 5, 2005 and seized two Tata Sumos used for transporting them and the weapons from Poonch to Uttar Pradesh, Mendhar, Sub Divisional Police Officer, Yogal Manhas told PTI in Jammu today (July 15, 2005).

"A total of eight militants, all hailing from Mendhar tehsil in Poonch district had helped five Lashker fidayeens in the attack. Five of them have been arrested last night (July 14, 2005) while three others are absconding", Manhas said.

The arrested were identified as Farooq Ahmed of Patta Kar village working at a popular Shahdara Sharief shrine (Rajouri), Mohd Naseem of Dera Jattan village, Abdul Aziz of Patti Dara village, Shakeel Ahmed and Mushtaq Ahmed of Derrian village.

The three absconding militants were Mohd Akbar of Sakhi Maidaan, Abu Usman and Abu Salam. A massive hunt has been launched to arrest them, he said.

The militants who attempted to carry out the suicide attack near the makeshift temple were speaking Sindhi or Baloch dialects, informed police sources said in Ayodhya.

Five heavily-armed terrorists made an unsuccessful bid to storm the heavily guarded disputed site but were killed by security forces before they could strike at the shrine. One local resident who worked as a guide, when militants blew up a jeep to breach the security cordon, also died in the attack.

Two Tata Sumos used to transport weapons seized

Manhas said that Jammu police was in constant touch with its counterparts in Uttar Pradesh and Central investigating agencies in Delhi after the arrests of LeT militants and a UP police team was expected in Jammu anytime to take custody of the arrested militants.

"A couple of women were also said to be involved in the conspiracy, but they have not been arrested so far," Manhas said adding that all the arrests were made in raids conducted by Poonch police on the basis of a specific tip off and also on interrogation of the Shadhara Sharief shrine employee, Farooq Ahmed.

Two Tata Sumo vehicles, bearing registration number JK12 0951 and JK12 0267, have been seized by police, he said.

Farooq Ahmed drove one of the vehicles carrying the weapons, including five AK rifles, grenades and ammunition for the attack, while the attackers were driven in the second Tata Sumo by Shakeel Ahmed to Uttar Pradesh, during the four-day journey, the police officer said.

A sophisticated wireless set has been recovered from Farooq Ahmed, who had passed on a message to Pakistan after the Ayodhya attack on July 5 morning from the same set, Manhas disclosed adding that the message was partially intercepted by a Central security agency.

Driver of the jeep, in which the attackers had travelled to Ayodhya and blasted a vehicle for seeking entry into the complex, had also given vital clues to U.P. Police during his interrogation, which were shared with Jammu Police.

LeT behind the Ayodhya attack

"During sustained interrogation of the militants at a safe house, somewhere in Jammu, they have admitted arranging weapons for the Ayodhya attack on directions of top brass of Lashker-e-Toiba (let) outfit," police sources said, adding the militants were shifted from Poonch to Jammu keeping in view sensitivity of the case.

Farooq and Shakeel Ahmed were paid Rs 80,000 each for providing weapons to the attackers and transporting them, they said.

Security agencies are still engaged in ascertaining the routes used by militants for transporting the weapons from Mendhar to Uttar Pradesh as it would involve crossing five states including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

The militants have disclosed during their questioning that they had concealed the weapons very tactfully in the Tata Sumos. Although their vehicles were stopped at many nakas, the security agencies could not detect the arms, they told the interrogators.

Involvement of Jammu and Kashmir militants had surfaced in the attack after it was detected that the militants had made a call from their mobile phone to Poonch before destroying it prior to the attack, they said.

The mobile phones were perhaps destroyed to ensure avoiding any suspicion on a neighbouring country, the sources said.