Wednesday, July 26 2006 19:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jammu/ New Delhi: Three Indian Army soldiers have admitted to providing logistics support to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), but the authorities stressed they were too junior to have any access to vital information.

The trio - a sepoy, a lance naik and a naik, the three lowest ranks of the Indian Army - have been in custody since July 8 and have admitted to providing three SIM cards (meant for mobile phone connection), batteries, boots and food to LeT cadres after the terror group threatened their families, highly placed army sources said Wednesday.

"It does not appear that anything sensitive has been passed on," a source said, adding that the issue would figure Thursday in form of a starred question that Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee would answer in the Lok Sabha.

The trio, sepoy Abdul Haq, lance naik Mohammad Shakeel and naik Mohammad Sharief, belong to the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) and were posted in a border area of the Jammu region.

All of them belong to Gursai area of Mendhar in Poonch district bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir where incursions are said to be very common.

They were on leave when sleuths of the police, army and intelligence agencies picked them up for interrogation.

These soldiers had come under the scanner on the basis of the information put together by investigating agencies following the interrogation of one Tipu, an LeT operator.

Tipu was arrested June 15, three days after the grenade explosions at the Jammu bus stand in which one civilian was killed and 30 were injured.

The LeT operator had revealed the names of two policemen, constables Sikander and Kabir, who had assisted him in staging the grenade explosions as also his future plans, which included assassinating former chief minister Farooq Abdullah at his Bhatindi residence, according to the sources.

On sustained interrogation the three pointed to the soldiers, who were subsequently picked up.

While Sikandar was found to be deeply involved with militancy, Kabir was let off as his involvement was said to be marginal.

The JAKLI, one of the Indian Army's youngest regiments, comprises of around 11 battalions with an strength of 10,000 men that are deployed in various parts of the country. A Territorial Army battalion comprising surrendered militants is also attached to the JAKLI.

The latest incident comes a week after media reports said that National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan had written a letter to the states cautioning about the possible infiltration of two LeT cadres into the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The IAF immediately clarified that a thorough check of all its personnel had ruled out the presence of any LeT cadres in the force.