Arrested JeM militants confess about plans of abducting Rahul Gandhi

The three Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, who were arrested in Lucknow on Friday, have confessed about their plans to abduct Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, police said.

Television channels beamed video-footage of their confessions.

“Our plan was to abduct Rahul Gandhi,” one of the terrorists was shown as saying in the 'confessional tapes' telecast by television channels on Saturday.

The suspects said that they were planning the kidnapping to secure the release of 42 prisoners lodged in various Indian jails, at the behest of 'people in Pakistan'

“We were given a list (of 42 prisoners) and asked to memorise (it),” a terrorist said.

The terrorists also confessed that their plan was to throw grenades and spray bullets and abduct the Congress parliamentarian.

The terrorists had plans to exert international pressure for the release of their 42 associates, including Afzal Guru, Nasrulla Mansoor and Abu Jinder, the officials said.

The officials said that terrorists had received training in carrying out kidnapping in Bahawalpur in Pakistan, for six months.

All the three terrorists- Mohammand Yousuf Jamir Kashmiri, Mohammand Rashid and Mohammand Abid, - who the police claims hailed from Multan in Pakistan, were arrested from the Gudumba police station area in Lucknow early Friday.

A large cache of arms and ammunition, including AK 47 guns, 120 rounds of AK 47, four magazines, three pistols, 16 hand grenades, five detonators and four kilograms of RDX, was also recovered from them. (ANI)