In the first incident of its type in Jammu and Kashmir, three Army jawans have been arrested in the border district of Poonch on the charges of operating as over ground workers of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terror outfit.

Meanwhile The Jammu and Kashmir Police have also arrested two policemen for alleged links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Their arrest has come on the basis of the interrogation of two policemen, Sikendar and Kabir, who were picked up by the intelligence agencies following inputs from Tipu Sultan and two other terrorists arrested in connection with the serial blasts in the bus stand here in early June. One of these terrorists was a close relative of Sikendar.

The soldiers have said they were forced to help the militants, providing them mobile phone cards and sheltering them in their homes, after their (soldiers') families were threatened, according to the sources.

It is being presumed that the army uniforms, the sale of which is banned in Jammu and Kashmir, might have been sought by the militants to mount a fidayeen attack.

However, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said the two 'Army men' persons nabbed in Jammu and Kashmir for their alleged links with terrorists actually belong to India Reserve Battalion (IRB). "They are not Army men but from IRB," he said.

The new incident is also important as observers have noticed a new trend in which the terrorists avoid direct contact with Army due to the ascendancy gained by the security forces.