Srinagar: Two Kashmiris, alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad militants have been arrested from Saharanpur’s Deoband by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-terrorist Squad (UP ATS) Friday, said Director General of Police O P Singh. The two have been arrested for their alleged involvement in recruitment for the outfit.
Pistols and live cartridges have been recovered from them, said the UP ATS. Their cellphones, too, have been seized.
The arrested men are Shahnawaz Ahmad of Kulgam and Aqib Ahmad Malik of Pulwama.
DGP Singh said it is difficult to say whether they came to UP before the Pulwama attack on February 14 or after that. The investigation is underway.
Police said they were tipped off about the two by local residents, in which both were posing as students.
The development occurs following the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Lethpora area along the Srinagar-Jammu highway in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which killed 49 CRPF personnel. The attack was claimed by JeM.
Following the attack, the Indian Army on Tuesday said that three militants, i.e, the leadership of the outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in the Valley had been ‘eliminated’ in an early operation that began early Monday morning and lasted 17 hours, ANI reported.
Lt Gen KJS Dhillion, 15 Corps Commander, while addressing the media in a press conference here said: “I would like to inform the nation that in less than 100 hours of Pulwama terrorist attack, we have eliminated the JeM leadership in the Valley which was being handled from Pakistan.”
