AYODHYA, India , 10 July 2005— At least three of the five militants who attacked a disputed religious shrine in Ayodhya were Afghan or Sudanese nationals. The other two could be either Pakistani or Indian, investigators said yesterday.

Initially, it was assumed that the attackers, all of whom were killed by the security forces, were from Jammu and Kashmir or Kashmiris from Pakistan. A police team from Jammu and Kashmir that was invited by Uttar Pradesh police to help in the investigation concluded that the language spoken by three of the militants was either Pashto or Arabic.

Kashmir police officers initially played Kashmiri language tapes and asked Rehan, the driver, if that was the language he had heard them speaking. He replied in the negative. The police then played some tapes in Arabic and Pashto and Rehan said they sounded like the language he had heard.

“From the facts gathered from Rehan’s statement, it is presumed that three out of the five terrorists were either (from Afghanistan or Sudan) while two were Indians or Pakistanis,” a police source told IANS.

While Rehan could easily follow the Hindustani (a mixture of Urdu and Hindi) spoken by two of the militants, conversation carried out by the other three was unintelligible to him.

He also confirmed that the two who spoke Hindustani appeared to be quite fluent in the language spoken by the other three.

Police have found nothing incriminating against Rehan in whose vehicle the attackers had arrived at the site, but he will remain in detention for a while, a top officer said.

“So far, the investigation agencies have found nothing against Rehan, but being one of the only two witnesses who saw the militants, he is an important source,” Uttar Pradesh police chief Yashpal Singh said.

“In any case, we cannot take any chances and he has to be kept under watch for sometime,” Singh added.

Rehan’s family is distressed over his continued detention. “Rehan is a resident of this town and has been earning his bread by running a taxi service for the past four years. He has a clean track record. Where is the question of his having anything to do with terrorists?” asked his uncle, Syed Tauheed Ahmed.

“We cannot imagine even in our wildest dreams that he would indulge in any antinational activity. His grandfather was a police inspector. His late father served in the Indian Army. His brother is currently serving in the army,” Ahmed added.

“We were living happily with our family of two children. I fail to understand how destiny has landed us into this mess,” lamented Rehan’s wailing wife Uzma. She finds it difficult to explain the situation to her children — 12-year-old daughter Hiba and six-year-old son Usman.

According to the uncle, “on Tuesday, Rehan left home as usual around 7.30 in the morning in search of passengers from a taxi stand in Faizabad. While he was filling fuel at a petrol station, he was approached by another taxi driver who offered him a day’s booking for five passengers he had brought from Akbarpur (60 km from here).”

These five passengers were the militants who attempted to storm the Ayodhya complex. Barely three hours later, Rehan landed up in police custody while the five attackers were gunned down.

Ironically, Rehan’s four-year stint in the Gulf was what aroused suspicion against him. His family was also among the victims of the sectarian riots that followed the 1992 demolition of the 16th century Babri Mosque.

“We are simply probing him in the light of his background,” said a police officer.

In the Kaziana neighborhood where Rehan has his own house, his neighbors, as well as many Hindu friends, were more than willing to vouch for him. “We all condemn the terrorist attack and I can guarantee that Rehan must have been tricked into allowing his vehicle to be hired by terrorists,” said Mohammad Achchan Khan.

“He would have been the last one to have done it if he had the slightest inkling about their intentions,” Khan added.

Temple priest Lallu Lal Misra too was willing to give Rehan a clean bill. “Rehan could not have been involved with the terrorists,” Misra asserted.

Ramji Maurya, another resident of the area, refused to believe that Rehan could even remotely have a hand in the attack.