Terrorist Naveed was caught by three villagers in Udhampur who he had taken hostage on August 5
The terrorist caught after attacking Indian soldiers in Jammu last week is confirmed as a Pakistani citizen, said India's top counter-terror official to NDTV today. This is the first high-level government response to link the Udhampur attack to Pakistan.
Sharad Kumar, the chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), told NDTV that there is "concrete proof" that Naveed is a member of the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and underwent "three sets of training in Pakistan as recently as March."
The disclosures come after the extensive interrogation of Naveed, who, along with another Pakistani terrorist, attacked a military convoy in the Udhampur area on August 5. Two soldiers were killed and 11 injured. Naveed's companion was shot dead, but he escaped into a nearby village, taking three men hostage, who later grabbed his AK-47 and over-powered him.
Pakistan has said that it needs proof that Naveed is one of its citizens. Next week, important talks between both countries will be held in Delhi. Sartaj Aziz, who is also Pakistan's foreign policy chief, confirmed that he will travel to meet with India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
The talks were agreed to by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif when they met in Russia last month.
In recent days, cross-border firing in Jammu and Kashmir has escalated.