Terrorists held in Baramulla new LeT recruits

After Irshad Mir was reported missing on May 9, it came to the fore that he had joined militant ranks. This was followed by Zahid Bashir

J&K POLICE SPOKESMAN

SRINAGAR: Two youths, including a teenager who had joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) last month, were arrested in an operation in Pattan area of north Kashmir Baramulla, police said on Saturday. The security forces recovered small weapons from the duo, which the police said were tasked to target vulnerable targets such as panchayati raj institution members and those from minority community.

Officials said that Irshad Ahmad Mir, 23, and Zahid Bashir, 18, both residents of Nehalpora Pattan, were caught on Friday evening in a joint operation of police and army.

“On June 10, 2022, specific intelligence was received regarding the movement of these two terrorists in general area of Ghat Palhallan and accordingly, joint teams of Baramulla police and army’s 29 RR laid an ambush in the evening hours and succeeded in apprehending them,” a spokesperson of police said.

The official said that after Irshad Mir was reported missing on May 9, it surfaced in the investigations that he had joined militant ranks through a module of LeT. This was followed by Zahid Bashir, also from Nehalpora, Pattan, who had gone missing on May 20.

“The investigation into the case established that the youths had joined the proscribed terror outfit LeT,” the spokesperson said.

“Two Chinese pistols with 18 live rounds and three magazines were recovered from their possession,” the spokesperson added. The police have registered a case against them.