Govt to handover Ban terror case to NIA
All out efforts to plug gaps on IB
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 3: Police have arrested four militant associates affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit from South Kashmir’s Pulwama district following disclosures made by three Over Ground Workers (OGWs) held after encounter near Ban Toll Plaza in Nagrota on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on January 31 while cops were also investigating Punjab link of the Jaish militants as they had frequently visited Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and other areas of the neighbouring State few days prior to transporting the militants to the Valley.
“In view of inter-State movement of Jaish militants and wide spread angles involved in Ban Toll Plaza terror case in which three Pakistani militants were gunned down by the para-military and police personnel, the case is likely to be handed over to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) but prior to that Jammu and Kashmir Police wants to crack entire case including previous transportation of the militants from Kathua to Kashmir and links of Jaish militants with Punjab based ultras,” official sources told the Excelsior.
They said during interrogation, Sameer Dar of Kakapora, Pulwama, the main handler of slain Pakistani militants and his two associates disclosed identity of their four associates, who were also part of Jaish-e-Mohammed module to step-up subversive activities in South Kashmir by transporting the militants from Jammu to Kashmir.
They have been brought to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) Jammu for questioning. However, according to sources, two associates of the militants whose names also figured during interrogation of Sameer Dar and two others, had managed to escape from their houses after getting report of the arrest of Dar in Nagrota.
Sources identified arrested associates of the militants as Suhail Rashid, Shoaib Mohammad, Adil Islam and Rafiq Dar, all residents of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. It may be mentioned here that Sameer Dar and two associates arrested by police from the truck in which the militants were being transported to South Kashmir, also hailed from Pulwama district.
Apart from South Kashmir connection of the arrested Jaish-e-Mohammed cadre, police was also examining their links in Punjab as Sameer Dar had paid several trips to Punjab in his truck along with two associates transporting apples, pomegranates and other fruits.
Few months back, police had arrested four top militants at Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir along with a large quantity of arms, ammunition and explosives which they had taken from Amritsar district of Punjab and were shifting them to the Valley.
Prior to that also, Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested Kashmiri militants in the guise of students from Jallandhar district of Punjab, who were affiliated with slain Zakir Musa, the chief of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind militant outfit.
“There was possibility that the Government was likely to handover Ban Toll Plaza terror incident to the National Investigating Agency (NIA) as previous such cases were also being probed by the same agency,” sources said, adding that Jammu and Kashmir Police was, however, confident that they will crack entire case within a week’s time by arresting all those involved in the transportation of militants from the National Highway to the Valley, mostly South Kashmir.
Meanwhile, teams of police and security forces accompanied by sniffer dogs and armed with metal detectors carried out a massive search operation to sanitize areas along the International Border (IB) in Samba district today.
The operation was carried out based on information provided by arrested JeM operatives, sources said, adding security forces were taking all possible measures to plug the gaps, if any, on the International Border to ensure that there is no fresh infiltration by the militants.
Police and security forces, including Border Security Force (BSF) launched the search operation this morning in the area along the IB in Basantar Nallah of Samba.
They were accompanied by two sniffer dogs. They searched the entire riverine belt of Basantar and the bushy area along the IB to find if any other consignment of weapons or improvised explosive devices (IED) might have been dumped in the area, sources said.
On Saturday, based on the disclosures made by the three OGWs, a police team and a Bomb Disposal Squad had defused an IED fitted with RDX, grenades and other material and placed under a hoarding at Nagrota on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
Monday’s operation was also launched following a disclosure by the OGWs that the militants had infiltrated into Jammu region via the International Border.
According to reports, one of three OGWs was also taken to the spot to recreate the scene of infiltration.
Sources said the militants had boarded the truck in Dayala Chak area and security agencies also questioned the people living near Basantar bridge.
The three JeM militants were killed on Friday morning at a toll plaza on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. They were travelling towards the Kashmir valley.
Sameer Dar is the cousin of Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Dar, who had rammed an explosive-laden SUV into a bus carrying CRPF personnel in Lethpora area of Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, in which 44 CRPF personnel were martyred on February 14 last year.
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