One more Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative was arrested from Pathankot while he was trying to flee to Kashmir, Punjab Police said Saturday. (Representational Image)
One more Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative was arrested from Pathankot while he was trying to flee to Kashmir, Punjab Police said Saturday.
Javed Ahmed Bhat (29), a resident of Shirmal village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district was arrested Friday, a day after Punjab Police arrested two LeT operatives — Aamir Hussain Wani and Wasim Hassan Wani — while trying to smuggle weapons to the Valley.
Javed was intercepted and apprehended, along with his truck bearing a J&K registration number, from Dhobra bridge in Pathankot on Amritsar-Jammu Highway, as he was trying to escape to the Valley on learning about the arrest of his accomplices, DGP Dinkar Gupta said in a statement.
Javed hails from the same village as the other two operatives do. The trio were in the transport business together for the past two-three years, and had been making trips to Delhi, Amritsar and Jalandhar.
Brother to a J&K Home Guard, Javed himself was selected by the unit in 2012, but he quit subsequently, according to the DGP.
During initial questioning, Javed revealed that he had come with Aamir and Wasim from Kashmir to Amritsar to collect an arms consignment on the pretext of buying fruits and vegetables, said Gupta. He added that they reached Punjab in two trucks and, after picking up the consignment from near Vallah Road on June 11, Aamir and Wasim — on directions of their handler, Ishfaq Ahmed Dar alias Bashir Ahmed Khan — had asked Javed to stay behind in Amritsar to contact the arms supplier.
Further investigation is on to identify further links and accomplices of the trio in Punjab and J&K, the DGP said, pointing out that these arrests indicate a widespread terror network backed by Pakistan-based
militants.
The arrests, the DGP said, corroborated recent intelligence inputs indicating that Pakistan-based ISI has been pushing weapon consignments and sneaking in militants from across the border into Punjab, and further to Kashmir valley for carrying out terror activities.