Security Agencies are set to free the alleged ‘suicide bomber’ who was arrested by Jammu Kashmir Police from Bijbehara town of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Highly placed sources said that Maharashtra girl Sadia Anwar (18) turned out to be innocent during questioning and security agencies have decided to hand her over to her family.
“It was just a ‘misinterpretation’ of intelligence inputs,” media reports quoting a police official as having said.
Media reports further said that Sadia was ‘radicalized’ and arrived in Kashmir after she heard about the sufferings of people here. Media reports even claimed that she had decided to join ISIS in Syria.
Ironically, a New Delhi based news channel went to an extent claiming that Sadia was in touch with ISI and Hafiz Sayeed of Pakistan. Almost every news channel labelled her as a lethal suicide bomber.
“It is absolutely immature and unethical to jump to any conclusion without verifying the facts,” said an official.
Media reports said that during her extensive questioning by security agencies in Kashmir, Sadia, the school dropout turned out to be having radical thoughts but has no any previous record that could label her as a suicide bomber.
The state police according to reports has got in touch with her mother and aunt and she will be handed over to them as there is no case pending against the detained girl either in the Valley or Maharashtra, officials said.
“It was a case of misinterpreting an intelligence input by the Jammu and Kashmir police who were informed by central security agencies that a Pune-based woman had shifted her base to the Valley .” reported First Post today.
Police earlier had issued a note that: "there is a strong input" that an 18-year-old non-Kashmiri woman might "cause a suicide bomb explosion" near or inside the Republic Day parade in Kashmir.
"All are directed to please ensure that frisking of ladies at the (venues) is done meticulously and with utmost caution so as to thwart the designs of ANEs (anti-national elements)," the note, circulated on 23 January, read.
On Friday, Kashmir police chief Munir Ahmed Khan refused to give any details and said, "We will be talking to her and we will be talking to our sister agencies. We will be covering every other lead to know what the facts are. After doing proper investigation, we will come to any conclusion."
Media reports said tha the Sadia's mother refuted all the charges leveled against her daughter and said she will not believe the claims of security agencies until she talks to her.
She said her daughter was innocent and somebody has misused her name. Her mother claimed that Shaikh spoke to her over the phone two days ago and said she was fine.