Uri attack: NIA releases Pak 'guides'

NEW DELHI: The NIA released on Wednesday the two suspected guides from

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

arrested in the wake of the

Uri terror attack

in September last year.

The initial charges against Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed, that they helped the terrorists who attacked an Army camp at Uri on September 18, could not be substantiated. They have been handed over to the Army, which will facilitate their return to POK across the LoC.

As first reported by TOI on February 26, the NIA decided to file the closure report after its probe did not yield evidence to corroborate the initial "confessional statement" the two youths made to the Army. The NIA clarified that its probe into the larger conspiracy behind the Uri attack would continue.

But with the case against Awan and Khursheed collapsing, the claim regarding the identity of one fidayeen - supposedly "disclosed" by the two after being shown photos of the slain terrorists - has fallen flat. This has weakened the Uri terror case, after the Army's initial claim attributing it to Jaish was belied by evidence pointing to the involvement of LeT .