JAMMU, DEC 7: Security forces remain as clueless as before about the fate of the four Western tourists abducted by militants in Kashmir valley over two years ago, even after interrogating Harkat-Ul-Ansar deputy chief Ghulam Nabi Baba. The deputy chief of the militant outfit, also known as Parvez Baba, was arrested a week back.Significantly, the police and the security agencies, who have been interrogating Baba for the last one week, are yet to ascertain his direct involvement in the abduction. Instead, they appear to be working on the assumption of his ``knowing many things'' about the case in view of his being the deputy chief of the Harkat and a member of its command council.``We don't think he was involved in the abduction of Western tourists. He was, however, involved in the bomb explosions, including the one that killed 15 people and injured many others outside the General Bus Stand at Jammu in March,'' a senior police official associated with Baba's interrogation told The Indian Express. ``Baba has not revealed anything about the Western hostages so far,'' the official said, adding ``his name never figured when we interrogated Harkat militants in the past.'' Even the security forces, who arrested Parvez Baba from his sister's residence at Kulgam in Anantnag district last week, did not appear certain about his involvement in the abductions. ``Had he been directly involved in the abductions, things would have been over by now,'' a senior security forces official said.A police official remarked, ``He is no doubt a prize catch, but till now we thought he was only involved in the cases of bomb explosions.'' Even a challan presented in the court of district and sessions judge charged the Harkat leader only with masterminding the bomb explosions outside the bus stand at Jammu, sources said. Nowhere did it hint at his involvement in the abduction of Western tourists, they added.However, security forces believe that interrogations will soon reveal Baba's role in the abduction. Baba, who was a junior engineer in the Power Development Department, had gone into hiding after the police started searching for him in connection with the bomb explosions at Jammu. His arrest at his sister's residence followed the interception of some messages about the visit of the Harkat's deputy chief there to hold a meeting, sources disclosed.The Al Faran had abducted six Western tourists from the Pahalgam resort during 1995. One of them, Hans Christian Ostro of Norway was beheaded by the militants a few days after his kidnapping. A US national managed to escape their captivity and was rescued by some senior officials of the state government. The remaining four hostages, whose fate is still unknown, include Keith Mangam, Paul Wells and Donald Hutchings.The Al Faran, according to a senior police official, was a splinter group of Harkat comprising some foreign mercenaries and about half a dozen local militants. Chief Abdul Hamid Turki, suspected to be behind the abductions, was killed in an encounter with the security forces on December 13, 1995, along with some militants. The official added that ``two of the abductors are still alive as per our information.''Identifying them as Ibrahim of Kapran in Anantnag district and Hashmi of Banihal, the police official said that the fate of the hostages could be ascertained only after arresting them. Earlier also, the police had exhumed a body, on the basis of the disclosures of an arrested militant. But DNA tests revealed that it did not belong to any of the hostages.
