Terror module busted in Rajouri, Poonch; 3 held
STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Police busted a module of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, arresting three out of seven identified members involved in receiving and distributing arms, ammunition, explosives, cash and narcotics dropped through drones from across the border, officials on Tuesday said.
Police issued a poster with a Rs 10 lakh award for the mastermind of the module, Mohmmad Qasim of LeT based in Pakistan.
“In a planned manner, Zone police and CIB have identified individuals involved in receiving arms, ammunition, IEDs and narcotics dropped through drones from across the border in Rajouri,” Director General of Police (DGP) R R Swain told reporters here.
“Cases were registered against them and their premises were searched. During the past 24 hours, ten places were searched and seven persons were identified. Three of them were already arrested,” he added.
The DGP said it was proven through evidence that they have received consignments of arms, ammunition, IEDs, cash and narcotics dropped through drones from Pakistan and distributed them further to forward linkages.
Both CID and police worked well in coordination and performed the best groundwork together to bust this module, he said.
Those arrested include notorious OGW in jail under UAPA, Talib Shah’s wife Gulshan Naaz, Imtiyaz Ahmed (both from Kotranka) and Abid Shah of Budhal area, he said, adding that they were involved in receiving material dropped from Pakistani drones.
“We have digital and electronic evidence against them. They were in touch with the mastermind in Pakistan. They have also distributed to forward linkages. Forward linkages, to whom they distributed money, are also being investigated,” he said.
The money has come in lakhs and was distributed to several people in small amounts, Swain said, adding that they are categorized as over ground workers (OGWs).
The DGP said that their mastermind is Mohmmad Qasim alias Salman alias Sulliman of Mahore (Reasi) currently based in Pakistan.
“He is a LeT leader. He has been declared a designated terrorist by the Government of India. We have announced a Rs ten lakh award on Qasim. A poster has been released in this regard,” he said.
Qasim is sending arms and explosive material, cash and narcotics, and is involved in networking in Rajouri and Poonch, he said.
He was involved in the blasts of a bus at Katra and Narwal in Jammu, the DGP said, adding he is involved in luring people, particularly youth, through VPN and PoIP networking.
We appeal to youth not to fall into their trap and to report any suspicious activity, he said.