The police department is expected to formally write to the UIDAI to strengthen the security of the Aadhaar cards

Pakistani terrorists operating in Kashmir valley are using fake Aadhaar cards to conceal their identity in a bid to evade arrest by police and other security agencies. The police department is expected to formally write to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to strengthen the security of the Aadhaar cards.

Two Pakistani terrorists were killed in an encounter in the Bishambar Nagar area of Srinagar city on April 10. Both were carrying fake Aadhaar cards, which showed them as residents of Jammu.

Mahmood Bhai alias Abu Qasim and Abu Arsalaan alias Abu Khalid were active in Kashmir for the last two to three years. According to the police, these terrorists were involved in the killing of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel earlier this month.

The investigation revealed that these terrorists had pasted their photos on the Aadhaar cards issued to other people to conceal their real identities.

The investigators said that the photographs posted on the cards recovered from the killed terrorists got their attention. They found that the images posted on the cards were passport-sized photographs, contrary to the original ones that are captured on webcams. This raised doubts about the authenticity of the cards.

The investigating team checked the Aadhaar numbers and found them to be authentic. However, the cards had been issued to different people.

The officials said that the police would strongly recommend having an effective mechanism so that the misuse of Aadhaar cards by international terrorists and other subversive elements is detected in time, and the nefarious designs of the foreign mercenaries operating in the Valley and their masters across the border are foiled.

Defence experts say that use of Aadhaar cards by Pakistani terrorists is a serious issue and needs to be addressed swiftly.

Speaking to News 18, security expert and former director general of police (DGP) J&K SP Vaid said that by using these fake documents, terrorists want to evade arrest during inspections by security agencies at various checkpoints established in Kashmir valley.

He added that the Pakistani masters of these jihadists want them to use Aadhaar cards (though fake) to show that foreign terrorists are not involved in terrorism in J&K.

“When a foreign terrorist is killed in an encounter with security forces in Kashmir, the world comes to know about the active involvement of Pakistan, and its terrorists in J&K. Pakistan wants to hide the identity of these terrorists as an attempt to show that the terrorists involved in such activities are locals and not Pakistani nationals," he said.