LET militant freed, two cops killed
SRINAGAR: Militants stormed a government-runhospitalinsrinagar on Tuesday, killed two policemen and freed a Lashkar-etaiba terrorist who was being treated there in custody, police officials said.
Shots were heard in the casualty ward of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, where Pakistani terror suspect Naveed Jhatt and five other prisoners had been brought for a checkup around 11.35am. “It was a planned militant attack. The gunmen shot at the policemen accompanying Jhatt,” Srinagar deputy inspector general (DIG) of police Ghulam Hassan Bhat said.
According to CCTV footage, the two militants opened fire in the crowded hospital, targeting head constable Mushtaq Ahmad and constable Babar Ahmad Khan, police said.
Ahmad died on the spot, while Khan succumbed to his injuries a few hours later.
Jhatt, who sneaked into India in the winter of 2012 after training at the Lashkar’s headquarters in Muridke, managed to escape with the two militants, police said.
The footage shows the three running away from the hospital premises.
An interim police report said they fled on motorcycles.
A third policeman who was guarding Jhatt did not respond to the firing, the report added.
Jhatt, also called Abu Hanzulla, is a resident of Multan in Pakistan’s Punjab province. He was arrested from south Kashmir, the hotbed of militancy, in 2014 and was lodged in Srinagar’s Rainawari jail. He was accused of killing three policemen and a teacher, police said.jammu & Kashmir’s director general of police SP Vaid described it as a “very unfortunate incident”.
“The terrorists managed to free one of their hardcore accomplices. We have sounded a red alert to nab all those involved in this crime,” he said.
DIG Bhat said there was no security lapse. Jhatt was referred for treatment to the hospital and the group of six detainees was accompanied by officers of five police stations and 18 other policemen, he said. But DGP (Prisons) S K Mishra has ordered an internal inquiry, said a police spokesperson.
The other five prisoners taken for treatment remain in custody.
At the time of the copy going to press, the LET had not claimed responsibility for the attack.
CM Mehbooba Mufti said the attack on the hospital was an act of cowardice. “Pained to hear that two more brave policemen lost their lives in an attack in Srinagar. My heart goes out to their families and loved ones,” Mehbooba said on Twitter. The Congress demanded a probe while the National Conference termed the attack the “biggest security lapse” as it had happened in a heavily guarded complex.
SRINAGAR: Lashkar-e-taiba terrorist Naveed Jhatt was active in south Kashmir and involved in multiple attacks between 2013 and 2014 before his arrest, police said, hours after his brazen escape from a hospital on Tuesday.
Jhatt, 20, also known as Abu Hanzulla, killed three policemen in two different attacks, police added. He was also involved in another attack in which five policemen and two civilians were injured, police said.
Jhatt was arrested on September 19, 2014, from Sempora Bijbehara in Anantnag and lodged in Srinagar’s Rainawari jail after being charged with murder and attempt to murder.
Son of a truck driver and a resident of Multan in Pakistan’s Punjab province, he sneaked into India as a teenager along with seven other militants between October and November 2012 through Athmuqam Farkian area in Kupwara sector, according to a police report.
Police said he has several siblings. The call for “liberation of Kashmir’’ got him to training camps in Pakistan and he was pushed into Kashmir after many months of arms training, they added.
Jhatt was active in south Kashmir’s Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian districts, according to the police. During questioning, he gave his home address as Check No 421, Boruhwala in Veheri district of Multan.
He also confessed to being trained at the Lashkar headquarters at Muridke, besides Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). Jhatt told police Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-rehman Lakhvi — both militant leaders wanted for the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai — were regular visitors to the Muridke seminary.
According to the police report, Jhatt and 22 other terrorists hid in Bandipora jungle between December 2012 and May 2013. Later, he was sent to Pulwama along with Ashiq Lone, another terrorist. They had mobile phones and SIM cards and were taught how to contact Pakistanbased terrorist leaders through Skype, the report said.
This band of militants shot dead a Jammu and Kashmir policeman and security forces retaliated by killing two of their members, including Lone.