As cops fail,Kandahar hijack suspect walks free

The police could not present challan against Dand in the court as Jammu Kashmir government failed to grant sanction for his prosecution within a stipulated period of 180 days.

Dand was arrested from Kishtwar in September last when he was on way to Kashmir from Nepal via Simpthon Top. Calling him a “prized catch’’,police had then said that there was yet no evidence to establish Dand’s direct role in the hijack,he knew about the plan as he was in close contact with a Pakistani diplomat in Nepal.

Originally hailing from Sopore,Dand was believed to have become a militant after the controversial elections in Kashmir during 1987 and later joined the United Jehad Council. State Police records,however,did not say much about him except that he went missing from home and he had been living in Pakistan.

He allegedly made three visits to the Valley on fake Pakistani passports. Later,he shifted to Nepal and married a local girl there claiming himself to be a Hindu.

Though at the time of his arrest,Dand claimed that he was going to Valley for treatment at SKIMS Hospital in Soura,the Jammu and Kashmir police suspected him on a mission to revive militancy there. He had been sending arms,ammunition and hawala money for militant activities in the Valley,top police officers had claimed.

The police had also quoted him having told it that he knew about the plan to bomb Lajpat Nagar in 1996 in which 13 people were killed. Besides,he also claimed having visited the office of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan.

Dand’s family,however,claimed that he was innocent,adding that it were they who had informed police about his return from Nepal. Pointing out that he had been living in Nepal for the last 16 years where he had moved following his release from Jammu jail in 1996. He had visited home in 2006 and 2010 also,they asked why he was not arrested earlier,they asked.