4 Hizb cadres arrested in J&K

Militants used social media to radicalise Kashmiri youth into militancy

The police said that its cyber surveillance unit also tracked their social media network accounts and found some ‘incriminating’ material

The security forces on Monday claimed to have busted a Hizbul-Mujahideen module in the Kashmir Valley after the arrest of four of its members, including two militants. The officials said the accused would use social media to radicalise the Kashmiri youth and then drive them into militancy.

A statement issued by the J&K police here said that the police, along with the Army, arrested two militants in Handwara in frontier district of Kulwara and two overground workers (OGWs) in Awantipora of southern Pulwama district.

“On specific information regarding movement of militants, a joint naka of Handwara police and 21 Rashtriya Rifles was laid at Chogal during which two persons, identified as Merajudin Bhat and Obaid Shafi Malla, both residents of Awantipora, were caught while moving in suspicious circumstances,” the statement

said. It added that the duo was asked to stop, but they tried to run away. “The naka party immediately swung into action and caught hold of them. On checking, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered,” the statement said, adding that during the investigation, they revealed that they had come to Handwara for receiving ammunition and other war-like stores for their militant outfit in South Kashmir.

The police said that its cyber surveillance unit also tracked their social media network accounts and found some “incriminating” material. “They were misusing Web chats to hatch and execute terrorist conspiracies,” the statement alleged.