>>AK‑47 SNATCHED
: Three suspected militants attacked a policeman in Jammu on Saturday night. Two of them escaped with his AK-47 rifle. This comes days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to nearby Chenani, exposing holes in the security arrangements.
PM Modi is scheduled to visit Chenani, around 100km from here, on April 2 to inaugurate Asia’s longest bi-directional road tunnel between Chenani and Nashri on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
The attack occurred near Mandir Masjid point at Jammu's Dogra Chowk at around 10pm on Saturday. Mohammed Hanief, a constable deployed as personal security officer (PSO) of Delhi-based Maulana Syed Athar Dehlavi, was returning home after dropping the cleric at the Circuit House.
“At least three terrorists intercepted the cop, threw red chilies at their eyes and assaulted him with a baseball bat, before fleeing from the spot with his official weapon,” a police officer said.
While two of the attackers have been arrested, the third, Mohammed Asif, is still at large. He also possess the weapon and a magazine having 30 rounds, police said.
All the three terror suspects are from Shopian in south Kashmir. The police said they are interrogating the two arrested attackers, Marsool Ahmed Malik and Sahid.
Marsool was caught within minutes near the crime scene by locals and cops. While Sahid was arrested around 25 kilometers from Jammu at Ban Toll Plaza, Nagrota on the Jammu- Srinagar highway at around 9am on Sunday.
It is learnt that during the interrogation, Sahid revealed that after the incident, he and Mohammed Asif fled separately from the spot. As per sources his(Asif's) location too has been traced from his call details.
Speaking to HT, inspector general of police Jammu zone, SD Singh Jamwal said, "The assault on the cop has been carried out by three persons. All of them are originally from Shopian, Kashmir. Police has managed to arrest two of them, while the third with an AK-47 rifle is still at large. However, we have launched a massive manhunt to nab the him."
Answering queries on whether the two have been arrested on terror-related charges, Jamwal said, "They have been arrested for assaulting a cop and snatching his weapon. Moreover, other sections can be added subsequently during the course of investigation."
He added, “At this point our main emphasis is to nab the third one."
The injured constable was admitted to the government medical college and hospital where he received 18 stitches on the head.
The attack has created panic as pilgrims from across the country are thronging Jammu and nearby Katra ahead of the Navratra festival.
A police officer said a red alert has been sounded in Jammu city and raids are being conducted to nab the absconding attacker.
INCIDENT COMES AHEAD OF PM MODI’S APRIL 2 VISIT TO CHENANI WHERE HE WILL INAUGURATE ASIA’S LONGEST TUNNEL