IC-814 hijack suspect to be sent to Joint Interrogation Cell

Mehrajuddin Wani, a militant suspected to be involved in the 13-year-old Kandahar hijack case, will be sent to the Joint Interrogation Cell for thorough questioning to garner more information about his role in various terror attacks, besides the IC-814 hijack.

"Top militant Mehrajuddin Wani alias Javed Dand, arrested by the police in Kishtwar, will be sent to the Joint Interrogation Cell for a thorough interrogation to know further details about various cases, including the hijack," said a senior police officer.

He is likely to be shifted to JIC in Jammu by Saturday. The police have also registered a case against him.

"He is a store house of information and knows of various terror acts in Jammu and Kashmir and outside-- and also about top Pakistan-based terrorists," he said.

On specific information that he was travelling from Nepal to Kashmir, Mehrajuddin was arrested in Kishtwar district, Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, Dilbagh Singh told reporters.

Mehrajuddin was one of the first five militants who launched militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in 1987 and later crossed over to PoK in 1989 to receive arms training, he said.

He belongs to militancy-hit Sopore town of north Kashmir and was a member of the UJC, an umbrella group of several militant outfits. He had close relations with United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahuddin and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's D-company.

Referring to his name figuring in the IC-814 hijack case, the IGP said, "We suspect that his services had been used (in the hijacking). He knew about the hijacking -- he was there (in Nepal) when the aircraft was hijacked in 1999".

"But he has not revealed anything about his direct involvement in it," he said.