A major plot to revive militancy in Jammu region has been unearthed withthe arrest of six persons from whom photographs and videos of strategiclocations have been seized, officials said Friday.
The six spies were in direct contact with their handler and with themilitant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen across the border.
Initially two of the spies were arrested in May for shooting videos andtaking photographs outside the Ratnuchak Military Station in Jammu. Militantshave tried to target the sensitive military station, most recently in Decemberwhen they opened fire on a sentry posted at an outpost.
During interrogation, Mushtaq Ahmed Malik (38), from Doda district, andNadeem Akhter (24), from Kathua district, revealed to security officials thatthey were also being guided by their handlers in Pakistan-administered-Kashmir.
They also disclosed information about four others engaged as Pakistanispies in Jammu region, officials said.
Based on that information, Saddam Hussain, Mohmmad Saleem and MohmmadShafi, all from Kathua district, and Safdar Ali, from Basantgarh in Udhampurdistrict, were arrested, the officials said.
The spies revealed that they were tasked to revive militancy in Jammu byrecruiting youth in the region.
An official said the arrested persons belonged to three mountainousdistricts close to the International Border with Pakistan.
Security agencies are likely to arrest more persons linked to the spy ringwho work as “over-ground workers”, he said.
Security officials have also found mobile phone numbers of theirPakistani handlers. They are trying to extract and retrieve mobile phone dataas the spies are said to have to have deleted some data, said the official.