Plot to target more convoys on NH foiled
MHA may handover Banihal case to NIA
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 7: In a major success, joint teams of Jammu and South Kashmir Police have arrested three Hizbul Mujahideen militants from two South Kashmir districts of Shopian and Pulwama, who had planned Pulwama-like terror attack at Banihal on March 31 and were in the process of fabricating more car bombs to target security force convoys on the Highways and other major roads.
Arrested militants were experts in fabricating IEDs especially the car bombs and were instrumental in converting Hyundai car into a car bomb, which the militant drove from Shopian to Banihal before triggering the blast near CRPF convoy in which the car was gutted but the para-military personnel in the convoy had narrow escape.
Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to handover the case of unsuccessful attack on CRPF convoy at Banihal on the morning of March 31, to the National Investigating Agency (NIA). All formalities in this regard were being completed and order to this regard was expected to be issued soon.
“The case is being handed over to the NIA as February 14 terror attack at Pulwama in which a Jaish-e-Mohammed militant had rammed explosive-laden car into the para-military convoy in which 44 jawans were martyred, is already being probed by the NIA and Hizbul Mujahideen attempt to replicate Pulwama at Banihal on March 31, was an attempt on the similar lines,” sources said, adding that an NIA team from Jammu had visited the spot for investigations the same day the car blast took place.
While senior police officers were tightlipped over arrest of three militants, reliable police sources confirmed the Excelsior that joint teams of Jammu Police and South Kashmir police conducted raids at Shopian and Pulwama for three days and finally arrested the wanted militants today.
While Umar Khalid and Aqib Javed were arrested from Shopian, Waseem Ahmad was taken into custody from Pulwama. All of them have been shifted to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) in Jammu under tight security for sustained questioning.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the militants were well trained and motivated and were operating in South Kashmir, where they were being handled by Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander, Amir Bhai, who had tasked them to fabricate car bomb and target security force convoy on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Sources said Hyundai Santro car used in the blast had been stolen by the militants. They had fabricated the IED inside the car used two LPG cylinders, petrol, gelatin sticks, sulphur and other items in a forest area of Shopian and assigned the task of carrying out suicide attack on the para-military convoy to another militant of Shopian identified as Owais Amin son of Mohammad Amin Rather, a resident of Chatta Waran, Shopian.
Owais had driven the car right from Shopian to Banihal on March 31 and tried to ram it into the CRPF convoy that was on way from Srinagar to Jammu. However, he narrowly missed the target as car exploded just few yards away from the CRPF vehicle and caught fire. The car was gutted but the militant had managed to escape from the spot. Police arrested him on April 1 when he was trying to escape towards Shopian after taking lift in a tipper.
“The militant didn’t get any shelter in Banihal,” sources said.
Meanwhile, the inputs have worried security agencies that the militants might be in possession of some more stolen cars and material used in fabricating IEDs in the forest areas of South Kashmir and they could make and use such bombs to target crowded spots and security forces before Parliamentary elections in the State.
Police and Army were expected to launch major search operations in South Kashmir ahead of the elections especially in the hideouts identified by the arrested militants to nab their more colleagues and seize the material dumped by them for fabricating car bombs, sources said.
They added that security forces were already maintaining strict surveillance all along the National Highway and other vulnerable spots to thwart nefarious designs of the militants ahead of Parliamentary elections.
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