NEW DELHI: India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has freed two men it suspected of guiding terrorists to an army camp in Uri last year, saying the alleged Pakistanis had run away from home to avoid studies, reports said on Wednesday.

India says 19 soldiers were killed in the attack and claims carrying out punitive strikes in Azad Kashmir, which Pakistan denies.

Press Trust of India said the NIA on Wednesday handed over to the army the two youths whom it had arrested in connection with the Uri attack.

PTI quoted an NIA spokesperson as saying Faisal Hussain Awan and Ahsan Khursheed were handed over to the Indian army’s 16 Corps headquarters in Jammu and they will be sent back home.

The spokesperson added that the NIA’s probe “revealed that the two suspects had crossed over to the Indian side after altercation with their parents due to pressure of studies”.

“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 reveal any linkage of the suspects with the Uri attackers,” the spokesperson said.

In September last year, four heavily armed militants stormed the Uri army base camp in held-Jammu killing 19 soldiers and injuring a few others.

The NIA had taken over the investigation in the case from the police.

The two youths were arrested by the BSF and the army in a joint operation at Angoor Post at Gavalata village in Uri when they were allegedly trying to infiltrate into India. It was not clear how they could have guided terrorists when they could not apparently infiltrate.

The two were brought to the NIA headquarters for interrogation.

The NIA has claimed that Pakistan-based militant group LeT was behind the attack.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2017