J&K: Two Lashkar terrorists overpowered by villagers; handed over to police

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday apprehended two most wanted and heavily armed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists with the help of villagers in Reasi district.
The incident took place in Tuksan Dhok village and the captured terrorists included LeT commander Talib Hussain, a resident of Rajouri district and the mastermind of the recent twin IED blasts in the district. A huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from the terrorists.
"Today villagers of Tukson Dhok showed extreme courage in apprehending two most wanted terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who had reached that area to take shelter after continuous pressure from police and Army," ADGP Jammu Mukesh Singh said.
"They have been identified as Talib Hussain of Rajouri and Faisal Ahmed Dar of Pulwama. 2-AK Rifles, 07 Grenades, a Pistol and a huge quantity of ammunition were recovered from their possession," he added.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for the villagers who managed to overpower the terrorists and handed them over to the police.
"Such determination by common man shows end of terrorism is not far away. UT Government to extend Rs. 5 Lakh cash reward to villagers for gallant act against terrorists and terrorism", said the Lt Governor.
During preliminary questioning, ADGP said it was revealed that both the terrorists were also in touch with a Pakistani LeT handler Salman.
"Pertinent to mention that Rajouri police had very recently recovered a large number of IED and had busted a module of LeT recently in which two terrorists of LeT were arrested and Talib Hussain was declared as an absconder and a reward was announced on him," Singh said.
"Talib Hussain was in constant touch with LeT terrorist Qasim based in Pakistan and was involved in at least 3 cases of IED blast at Rajouri district besides civilian killings and grenade blasts," he added.
Terming the arrest of the two terrorists as a “major breakthrough”, the officer said they were attempting to revive terrorism in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch besides Reasi.
Twin explosions rocked Kotrana town of Rajouri on March 26 and another on April 19, leaving two persons injured.
Two more persons were injured in another blast that took place in Shahpur-Budhal area of Rajouri on April 24.