The police in Jammu said they have taken into custody a militant of AnsarGhazwat-ul-Hind with eight grenades while he was preparing to board a bus for New Delhi on Sunday night. With the arrest of the militant the police believe they have foiled a plan to trigger explosions in New Delhi and Jammu on Independence Day.
“Last night police party arrested accused in Diginia area of city when he is about to board a bus for Delhi to transport the explosive,” Inspector General of Police, (Jammu) Shiv Dev Singh Jamwal told reporters here.
“He was carrying this cache of bag containing grenades, which he would hand it over to a contact in Delhi. These grenades would have been used to disturb the Independence Day celebrations in national capital,” Jamwal said, adding that he was also carrying Rs. 60,000. The militant has been identified as Arfan Hussain Wani, a resident of village Dangerpora of Awantipora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The Jammu police chief said that during questioning, the 25-year-old revealed his affiliation with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind led by ZakirMussa and added that he was in touch with number two of the outfit, Rehan. “A BA dropout, Arfan was active in militancy for the last one year. With his arrest, a major chance of disturbing the Independence Day celebrations in Delhi and parts of Jammu was foiled,” Jammu police chief claimed. Terming the arrest a major success, the IGP said it was the result of robust security measures put in place by the police to ensure peaceful Independence Day celebrations in Jammu.
Police sources said that arrested militant is being put through sustained interrogation to ascertain about the plans and his contacts in the city and its outskirts. They also added that a team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell also arrived in winter capital and were likely to question ArfanWani. Earlier, police lodged an FIR number 117/2018 under section 120B,121/Ranbir Penal Court, 20/21 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act ,7/25 Arms Act, 4/5 Explosive Substance act at Police Station Gandhi Nagar, Jammu. Pertinently, security forces are on alert in the wake of intelligence inputs that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and HizbulMujahideen are planning to carry out strikes in Jammu and New Delhi on the occasion of Independence Day on August 15.