Pakistani teenagers: Uri attack suspects return home from Indian custody

Hussain and Khursheed were released and handed over to the Army’s 16 Corps headquarters

India on Friday released two Pakistani students who were falsely accused of being involved in last year’s brazen attack on a military base in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed were handed over to their families at the Wagah border near Lahore.

The teenagers were arrested days after the Sept 18, 2016 attack on a military installation in Uri area of the IOK. At that time, Indian authorities and media had claimed that the boys from Azad Jammu and Kashmir had helped in carrying out the attack in which at least 19 Indian soldiers were killed.

However, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) acknowledged that no substantive evidence could be found against the boys showing their involvement in the attack. Awan and Khursheed were released on Wednesday.

“Hussain and Khursheed have been released and handed over to the Army’s 16 Corps headquarters today (Wednesday) for sending them back to Pakistani authorities,” IANS quoted an NIA official as saying.

The NIA investigation revealed that the two teenagers crossed the Line of Control following an argument with their parents due to pressure over studies. The agency said that the evidence collected in the form of statements, technical analysis of their mobile phones, seized GPS devices and other circumstantial evidence did not reveal any linkage of the suspects with the Uri attackers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2017.