Militant’s aide to be brought to Jammu for questioning
The main accused and Al-Badr operative, Bashir, was a nursing student in a Chandigarh college
JAMMU: A day after a 7kg improvised explosive device (IED) was found and detonated near the Jammu Bus Stand on the second anniversary of the ghastly attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Pulwama, police on Monday said a Chandigarhbased associate of the Al-Badr terror operative arrested in the case will be brought to Jammu for questioning.
The 21-year-old main accused, Suhail Bashir, a resident of Newa in Pulwama, was arrested late on Saturday by a police patrol from the bus stand. His associate one Qazi Waseem is being brought from Chandigarh. Jammu district police chief, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Shridhar Patil said, “Bashir was a bachelor of science (nursing) student at Desh Bhagat College in Chandigarh.” On the basis of Bashir’s statement, two others — one Abid Nabi and a top operative of Al-Badr Athar Shakeel Khan — were arrested from Kashmir’s Budgam and Srinagar.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened at major points across Jammu. A crisis response team of the Jammu Police was seen frisking people on the Jammu Bus Stand.
Drones were also pressed into service for reconnaissance of the area. The Jammu bus stand always remains crowded and has been a preferred target for terrorists.
A police officer, requesting anonymity, said, “The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lashkar-eMustafa, an offshoot of Jaish-eMohammad have been given the task to establish their network in Jammu and carry out terror attacks to vitiate the atmosphere in the region.”
“The IED was a powerful one and it could have caused massive destruction. Forensic experts are analysing it but it appears the deadly explosive, RDX, was used in it,” the officer said.