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Ugandan Army Officer Arrested in Kashmir

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Aug 3: Indian Police today arrested a lieutenant colonel of the Uganda Army when he was caught near an Indian army cantonment area in Jammu province of the strife torn state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The arrested Ugandan army officer has been identified as Rashid Hassan.

Said to be a Ugandan army lieutenant colonel, the arrested officer was staying in India for the past 18 months. He has visited Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Srinagar and Dehradun before coming to Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

After his arrest, the 42 year old lieutenant colonel was being interrogated for hours together by Indian army, police and intelligence officers. It has been revealed that during interrogation he told his interrogators that he had come to India to save himself from the rebels in Uganda. "The rebels had killed my father in 1995, who also was a serving major in the same army. My two brothers have also deserted Uganda and are presently camping in Canada", he told the investigating officers.

He told the investigating officers that he got an Indian visa in September 2005 and landed at Mumbai airport with four thousand dollars in his purse. "Since, then I have visited many Indian states including Mumbai, Dehradun, Jaipur, Ajmer, Chennai, Massorie, Delhi and I landed in Jammu Kashmir on July 14, 2007 and went back from Jammu to Delhi on July 28, 2007".

The interrogation of the arrested Ugandan army officer is still in progress.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.