‘JEM’ man, aide of Pulwama planner, held near Red Fort
KASHMIR TO DELHI Sajjad Khan named in NIA’S Pulwama attack FIR, say Delhi Police
NEWDELHI: An alleged Jaish-e-mohammad (JEM) operative, said to be a “close associate” of the Pulwama attack mastermind, was arrested near Delhi’s Red Fort late Thursday night, Delhi Police’s special cell said.
Police said 27-year-old Sajjad Ahmed Khan had been living in the Jama Masjid neighbourhood since December, posing as a shawl vendor.
Pramod Kushwaha, deputy commissioner of police (special cell), said, “He was in Delhi to conduct a reconnaissance of important targets and recruit Muslim youngsters from Uttar Pradesh and other states.”
The DCP said Sajjad was among those named in the FIR registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after the Pulwama attack.
On February 14, a convoy of vehicles carrying CRPF personnel was attacked by a suicide bomber at Pulwama in Kashmir, killing at least 40 jawans.
The same FIR had also named Mudasir Khan, the alleged conspirator of the attack, who was gunned down by security agencies earlier this month.
DCP Kushwaha said Sajjad was in regular contact with Mudasir before and after the Pulwama attack. “Mudasir had contacted Sajjad on Whatsapp to tell him that the attack on the CRPF convoy had been carried out. Mudassir also sent him the video of the fidayeen, Adil Dar. Sajjad, however, deleted that video from his phone,” said the officer.
But Sajjad’s counsel, MS Khan, said there was “no material on record” to connect Sajjad with Mudasir or the Pulwama attack. “We have told Patiala House Courts he was wrongly implicated in the case,” Khan said.
In a press statement, Delhi Police Friday said Sajjad was a school dropout who indulged in stone pelting with his two brothers in their hometown Pulwama in their early years. His brothers, Ishfaq and Showkat, were also JEM operatives and were killed in encounters with security forces between April and September 2018, the statement read.
Police said Mudassir was the one to “motivate” the three brothers. “Once Ishfaq and Showkat were killed, Mudasir began motivating Sajjad to work as a JEM cadre. Sajjad initially provided information about movement of convoys and cordon and search operations carried out by the Indian Army,” sthe DCP said, adding that Mudasir instructed Sajjad to scout for youngsters for carrying out fidayeen attacks.
“Sajjad was the one to recruit Bilal and Tanveer, two residents of Jammu and Kashmir,” said the DCP, adding that Sajjad moved to Delhi to set up “sleeper cells” here on Mudasir’s advice.
Police said Sajjad was sent to Delhi to also set up a “hideout” in Delhi. “His role in Delhi was to select specific targets and also radicalise and recruit Muslim youngsters. They were to be provided training in collection and use of weapons, explosives and raising funds,” said the officer.
“We made the arrest after inputs from a central intelligence agency that an active cadre of JEM had moved to Delhi and had been living in the guise of a shawl vendor,” DCP Kushwaha said.