4 held for helping LET ultra escape from J&K hospital

SRINAGAR: Police arrested four people for allegedly helping a jailed Pakistani Lashkar-etaiba (LET) militant escape from a Srinagar hospital where a dramatic raid left two security personnel dead on Tuesday, and released details of the plot to free him,that they claim was finalised in prison.

In a related development, the state home department on Thursday suspended superintendent of central jail, Hilal Ahmed Rather, pending an inquiry, an official order said.

Police identified the four arrested as Shakeel Bhat, Tika Khan, Rahil Kachroo and Mohammad Shafi, adding that they were directly involved in the escape of the LET militant, 22-year-old Naveed Jhatt, alias Abu Hanzalla.

They also seized a car and a motorcycle used in the incident and recovered one pistol each from Bhat and Khan.

Another militant, Hilal Ahmad, and Jhatt are still at large. Giving details of the case, ADGP Muneer Khan described the arrests as a breakthrough that could lead to their capture.

“Since the incident was serious and the first of its kind, a special investigation team was formed to probe it,” he added.

The police said Shakeel Bhat , Tikka Khan and Hilal Ahmad were the alleged masterminds of the raid at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital to free Jhatt, who was brought for treatment while in custody.

Six other people have been detained for questioning, although the police did not provide their names.

₹₹During investigation it was revealed that the conspiracy regarding the escape was made some four months back. The militants had attempted something similar in Pulwama Court but were not successful. However the final planning was done a few weeks ago ,'' Muneer Khan said .

Khan said the two militants, Tikka Khan and Hilal used to visit Jhatt in central jail and were also in touch with him through mobile phones. Khan did not comment on the presence of phones in the jail. .

The arrested men belong to south Kashmir’s Pulwama area and were apprehended during multiple raids on Wednesday night.

According to the police on the day of the attack, the five militants took positions in and around the hospital and mingled with patients and attendants. ₹₹When Jhatt was taken to hospital his Kadi man (the policeman holding the handcuffs), who was unarmed and a constable who was holding him on the side were shot at from close range,'' ADGP Khan said.

₹₹Both Jhatt and Hilal fired as the militants were able to push a pistol into detained militants pocket,'' he added. Jhatt and Hilal can be seen running with pistols in the CCTV footage.

Muneer Khan said the rest of the policemen did not fire as the hospital was packed and the militants rapidly mingled with the crowd.