Pak uses drone to drop weapons in Rajouri, 3 Lashkar terrorists held
JAMMU: Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists have been arrested in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district along with arms and ammunition that were dropped by a Pakistani drone along the Line of control, police officials said on Saturday.
The trio had come from Pulwama via Mughal road and had picked up the consignment before being caught by the security forces. It is fourth such attempt by Pakistan since June 20 to push arms and ammunition with the help of drones into J&K.
The terrorists were identified as Rahil Bashir alias Ayaan Bhai, 20, of Tickan in Pulwama, Amir Jaan alias Hamza, 25, of Kakapora in Pulwama and Hafiz Younus Wani alias Zubair,19 of Shopian.
The recoveries include two AK-56 assault rifles, six AK magazines with 180 rounds, two Chinese pistols, three pistol magazines with 30 rounds, four grenades and Rs 1 lakh in cash.
A case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code, Indian Arms Act and UAPA.
While addressing mediapersons in Rajouri, director general of police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said, “Pakistan has been trying to send weapons and narcotics by drones. Infiltration attempts and ceasefire violations in Rajouri and Poonch are also going on but the police and army besides other security forces are working in unison and remain active. This time, police and army’s 38 RR did a commendable job by catching this group which had come from Kashmir to pick up a consignment of arms and ammunition.”
“The security forces had noticed movement of three men with bags in the area. The trio lobbed a grenade on the forces which did not explode. Arms and ammunition besides and Rs 1 lakh that was sent by Pakistan to fuel and sponsor terror activities were found from the bags,” the DGP said. “The three terrorists belong to LeT and weapons were sent across by a drone from Pakistan,” he added.
He said Pakistan has been trying to revive terrorism in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
The DGP said the DNA sample report of three youths killed in an alleged fake encounter in Shopian district is expected soon and subsequent action will be taken accordingly.
On July 18, the army had claimed that three militants were killed in Amshipura village in the higher reaches of south Kashmir’s Shopian district. However, the families of the three men from Rajouri identified them as their kin and had filed a police complaint.
Police had taken the DNA samples of three families from Rajouri district on August 14 for matching it with the DNA of the
three youths who were killed in Shopian.“We are working in our own way and have taken and dispatched DNA samples. The report is expected soon,” DGP Singh said.
Two militant associates held in Pulwama
Two associates of militants were arrested in Pulwama district and incriminating material was seized from their possession, police said on Saturday. The two were arrested from Awantipora and Khrew areas of the south Kashmir district, a spokesman said, without disclosing their names. Cases have been registered.