Arrested 'LeT' operative's mother says he is innocent

The family of Tauseef Ahmad Peer, the third suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative arrested in Jharkhand after an aborted terror plot in Delhi, on Thursday claimed he is "innocent" and not involved in terror activities.

 "Tauseef had gone to Hazaribagh to study computers. He is not involved in anything else," his mother Mehbooba told mediapersons at her residence at Sopore in Baramulla district.

She said her son was living with the family of his maternal uncle in Jharkhand and his cousin was also enrolled in the same computer institute.

"They (Tauseef and his cousin) were going to the computer institute in the morning when they were both taken away by police. While the girl was let off at four pm, the whereabouts of our son are not known," she said.

Tauseef is suspected to be a member of Lashkar-e-Tayiba's north India module and was arrested in a joint operation by Delhi Police Special Cell and Jharkhand police.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Kashmir S M Sahai said the three arrested youth were under investigation and surveillance after the recent encounter in Sopore in which a top Lashkar commander Badar was killed.

"There was an operation in Sopore in which a militant commander Badar was killed.  After that we investigated further, and found Ehtesham is an important character," the officer said.