SRINAGAR: Eight Lashker-e-Toiba militants were on Sunday arrested by the security forces in North Kashmir, weeks before the first phase of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
With the arrest, the security forces claimed to have busted a module of the terror outfit and “averted a major terror plan of the militants”.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition was also seized.
“Police in Sopore (in Baramulla district), with the help of 30 Rashtriya Rifles(RR), have busted a recruitment module of militant outfit Laskhar-e-Toiba, thus averting a major terror and subversion plan of the militants.
“Eight members of the module were arrested from different parts of Sopore town and adjoining areas,” a police spokesman said here.
He said the militants, all local, were recruited into the outfit which was trying to execute militant activities.
“The local boys were recruited into the outfit, which is building a network of LeT operatives.
“They were bent upon executing various militant actions in and around the township in conspiracy with one foreign terrorist of LeT, Umer Khitab, a Pakistani national, who is operating in Sopore. Khitab has been taking directions from another LeT man Hanzulla, also a Pakistani national,” he said.
Three of them Rayees Ahmad Bhat, Sajad Ahmad Bhat and Shabir Ahmad Kumar are residents of Harwan, Sopore. While remaining five, Lateef Ahmad Gujar, Zubair Ahmad Gujar, Mohammad Qasim Gujar, Mohammad Iqbal Gujar and Hakim Din Gujar are residents of Gujarpatti Zaloora village, the spokesman said.
He said eight UBGL, five Chinese grenades and 100 AK-47 rounds have been seized from them, adding involvement of these militants in “other actions of terrorism and subversive actions is being probed”.
Meanwhile, a hideout was busted in forest area of Lolab area of Kupwara district and a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered.
Acting on a specific information, Kupwara police along with 28-RR launched a joint search operation in the forest area of Watnar, Anderbugh, Lolab.
During the search, a militant hideout was busted and one AK-56 rifle, five AK magazines, 1,000 AK rounds, one UBGL, two UBGL grenades, four pistols, four pistol magazines, 32 pistol rounds and 21 grenades were recovered from the hideout, the spokesman said.