Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 17: With the arrest of a Hizbul Mujahideen militant from Degwar Trewan in Poonch district yesterday, Army and police have thwarted a major plot of the militant outfit to trigger blast near the Army post or Rajouri-Poonch road on the eve of Lok Sabha elections in Jammu to create terror among the people.
The militant, who was arrested in a joint operation conducted by police and Army, has been identified as Mohammad Ishaq alias Munna son of Mohammad Sharief, a resident of Degwar Trewan in Poonch district.
He was arrested from Pintu Nullah in Degwar Trewan area soon after he infiltrated into the Indian side from the Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
At the time of his arrest, police recovered from his possession one AK-47 rifle with two magazines and 59 rounds, one Improvised Explosive Device (IED), one 9 volt battery, one rucksack, one jacket, one blanket and eatables.
Police parties headed by DySP Operations Javaid Iqbal Naaz made the arrest under the supervision of DIG Rajouri-Poonch range AK Atri, SSP Poonch Shamsheer Hussain and Additional SP Poonch Amit Gupta.
Local unit of the Army played a major role in the search operation that led to the arrest of top Hizbul Mujahideen militant, who was planning to disturb upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said the militants had directed Ishaq to plan the IED on the road track between Rajouri and Poonch or near the Army post during Lok Sabha elections to create fear among the electorates. However, with his arrest immediately after his infiltration, Army and police have thwarted the nefarious designs of the militants to disturb the elections.
SSP Poonch Shamsheer Hussain said the operation to nab the militant was launched on the basis of specific input and executed in a surgical manner to avoid any collateral damage. He said preliminary questioning of the militant has revealed that he had crossed over to PoK on December 22, 2011. A case of his exfiltration had also been registered at police station Poonch.
The militant disclosed that after reaching Pakistan, he spent six months in jail and thereafter joined the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit and obtained training in handling of arms from Aiptabad training camp of the LeT, located near Mansara, Pakistan.
Later, he switched over to Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.
Shamsheer Hussain said the militant had been asked by the commanders of his outfit to infiltrate into the Indian side along with arms and ammunition to target civil or Army vehicles on road or police/Army establishments and posts during Parliamentary elections.
The SSP said the militant was in touch with some Over Ground Workers (OGWs) in Poonch from PoK. During January this year also, the Intelligence agencies had given inputs about an act of sabotage by the militants during Republic Day celebrations. In the input, the name of Ishaq had figured prominently.
Due to high alert maintained by security forces and police, the Republic Day celebrations were conducted peacefully and the militants failed to carry out any sabotage.
Police have started further interrogation of the militant to ascertain about his links in Jammu and Kashmir and across. A case has been registered against him at Poonch police station for further investigations.
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