NEW DELHI: This was one “goodwill gesture” which spectacularly boomeranged on the UPA government. Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) terrorist Shahid Latif, chief handler of the fidayeen squad that attacked the Pathankot airbase in January, was released by India in 2010 as part of the Manmohan Singh government’s effort to repair ties with Pakistan.
High-level sources told TOI that 47-year-old Latif, who was in an Indian jail for 11 years for acts of terrorism, was among 25 militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and JeM who were freed on May 28, 2010, as part of the Centre’s outreach to the hostile neighbour. They were lodged in jails in Jammu, Srinagar, Agra, Varanasi, Naini (UP) and Tihar, and were deported to Pakistan through Wagah.