5 LeT men held for attack on Baramulla wine shop
Five pistols, nine magazines, 23 grenades and a tiffin box IED recovered from the accused
Footage from CCTV cameras helped to reconstruct the sequence of events. RAYEES MOHAMMAD BHAT, Baramulla SSP
SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday claimed to have solved the Baramulla grenade attack case on a liquor shop with the arrest of four Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists and a terror associate.
The police identified the four militants as Shahid Showkat Bala, Safeer Ahmad Mir, Moh Maroof Saleh and Faisal Shaban Gojri, all residents of Baramulla while their associate Hatif Ahmad Sofi was from Arampora.
Officials said the arrested group was a part of a ‘Falcon Squad’ of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
“Baramulla Police cracked the case of recent terror attack on wine shop. Four terrorists and an associate of LeT outfit arrested. Five pistols, 23 grenades and explosives were recovered,” tweeted Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar.
“This module was involved in several terror incidents in Baramulla. Investigations are going on,” he added.
On May 17, a burqa-clad terrorist lobbed a grenade on the newly opened wine shop at Deewan Bagh in Baramulla. After lobbing the grenade, the terrorist returned to his waiting accomplice and fled from the spot on a motorcycle. The grenade explosion had left four persons injured who were evacuated to a local hospital by police and army personnel. One of the injured persons succumbed to injuries while one critically injured was shifted to SKIMS Soura, where his condition is reported to be stable.
Baramulla SSP Rayees Mohammad Bhat said in a press conference that a team of four terrorists supported by a local associate was involved in the attack. Two of them perpetrated the attack with one wearing a burqa, he said, but didn’t identify him.
The SSP said that during investigation, various evidences at the scene of crime were assessed and analysed and some critical leads came to the fore, including the recovery of the grenade lever from the site.
He said the footage from nearby CCTV cameras was also obtained which helped to reconstruct the sequence of events before and after the incident.
“On the basis of human and technical intelligence, few suspects were picked up and questioned. During sustained interrogation, a major breakthrough was achieved by arresting the four terrorists and one associate of the Falcon Squad of LeT,” he added.
On the basis of further investigation and disclosures made by these militants, various locations were raided and multiple recoveries were made, including the motorbike which was used in the commission of act, the SSP said.
“Five pistols were recovered of which four are made in Pakistan and one is a replica of a Chinese pistol. Nine magazines along with 205 rounds of 9mm ammunition and 23 grenades were also recovered. A tiffin box IED has also been found,” he added.
“We followed the trail of burqa-clad assailant and found that the piece of clothing was destroyed, which is a matter of destruction of evidence,” he said.
As per the police, the consignment of weapons and explosives was received by these terrorists a few days before the attack.
A police spokesperson said the same group was earlier involved in various terror activities, including last year’s grenade attacks, various firing incidents in and around Baramulla, and transportation of proscribed weapons and explosives.