2 JeM militants, OGW involved in Chanapora attack arrested

Police said on Sunday two militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad and their over ground worker were arrested barely two days after they injured a policeman during an attack on a police post in Chanapora here.   

One of the arrested militants involved in the attack haddone recce of the police post thrice planning to snatch weapons from thepersonnel deployed there, police said.

   

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) for Sriangar, HaseebMughal said that on the evening of April 26 a sentry was attacked and militantstried to snatch his weapon.

“However, militants could not snatch the weapon. The sentrywas hit by a bullet and he is undergoing treatment at SKIMS, Soura. Hiscondition continues to be critical,” Mughal said.

He added that the police intelligence grid swung into actionimmediately and started collecting digital evidence to nab the attackers.

“Some suspects, who were already on the radar of Police,were zeroed in and they were picked during nocturnal raids from differentlocations in Wathoora area of Budgam,” the SSP said, adding that duringquestioning one of them accepted his role and revealed details about his group.

Explaining the modus operandi of the attack, Mughal saidthat three persons came on a motorcycle and stopped it a little away from thePolice Post Chanapora.

“One of the accused, Junaid went inside police post thriceon the pretext to know the verification status of his passport. He crossed thesentry at least thrice and goes upstairs after getting frisked.

“Inside police post, he observed the sentry was isolated andassumed no backup of forces and thought the sentry could be targeted,” the SSPsaid.

“He came out of police post and told this to his colleagues.He again came inside and this time his colleague Mushtaq, wearing pheran andhelmet, followed Junaid.”

When the sentry asked Mushtaq to lift his pheran forfrisking, he fired his weapon instead. The alert sentry pushed him while themilitant fired two bullets, one of which hit him. The sentry fired in air butcollapsed while policemen inside the police post also fired in air,” Mughalsaid.

“The gun of the sentry was tied with his belt, so theycouldn’t snatch the weapon. The militants managed to escape.”

The SSP said three people have been arrested in connectionwith attack on the police post. They include Mushtaq, the main accused whofired at sentry, Junaid who conducted recce and Lateef, an OGW who brought themilitants to the police post on a motor cycle.

Mughal said that the background of the case is linked withthe Pulwama district where one militant Sameer Ahmad is active. Sameer andMushtaq had been colleagues in Kashmir University.

“Sameer and Mushtaq have done masters (degree) in twoseparate subjects,” he said.

“On Sameer’s instructions, they tried to loot weapons to begiven to the militant outfit.”

The SSP said that the accused were nabbed within 30-hoursafter the attack.

“Budgam police and 53 RR also assisted. One Chinese pistol,two magazines, six live rounds and a belt have been recovered from the arrestedmilitants while as a pulsar bike has been also recovered,” Mughal said.

The Srinagar police chief said that about ten militants wereactive in the area.

“Srinagar being a central place is accessible from Pulwamaand Baramulla. We have had no militancy incident in Srinagar during the wholeelections process. The presence (of militants) could be there but it is verythin. Security grid is there, we will be able to trace them,” he said.

The SSP said investigation into the attack so far had notfound a link with Al Umar group.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

5 × five =