Indian authorities on Wednesday said they had released two men from Muzaffarabad who were arrested for their suspected involvement in last year's attack on an army base at Uri, reported The Times of India.
India's National Investigation Agency said Faizal Hussain Awan and Yasin Khurshid were not involved in any terrorist activity. "Hussain and Khursheed have been released and handed over to the Army's 16 Corps headquarters today (Wednesday) for sending them back to Pakistani authorities," said an NIA official.
According to the NIA report, the two men had allegedly crossed over to India-held Kashmir after a disagreement with their parents over education. The evidence collected in the form of statements, technical analysis of their mobile phones, seized GPS devices and other circumstantial evidence collected by the NIA did not disclose any link between the two men and the Uri attackers, the report added.
India had apprehended Awan and Khurshid after armed men killed 19 Indian soldiers in an army base at Uri. New Delhi said it had shared 'evidence' with Pakistan's High Commissioner in New Delhi Abdul Basit.
Basit told Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar that India was trying to divert the world’s attention from atrocities being committed by its forces in India-held Kashmir (IHK) by blaming the Uri attack on Pakistan.
