2 J& K IS men held near Delhi Red Fort

Both are from Jammu & Kashmir’s Shopian area

Two suspected members of the Islamic State in Jammu and Kashmir ( IS- JK) have been arrested from near the Red Fort, the Delhi Police said on Friday.

The duo, from Shopian in Kashmir, were identified as Parvaiz Rashid Lone ( 24) and Jamsheed Zahoor Paul ( 19). They were arrested from the Jama Masjid bus stop near the Red Fort, said Pramod Singh Kushwah, deputy commissioner of Police ( Special Cell).

“It was revealed that they were procuring sophisticated weapons through their contacts in Uttar Pradesh. It was learnt that the duo was using Delhi as a transit point and had even managed to deliver

an arms consignment to ISJK cadres earlier,” he added. Two pistols of 7.65 callibre along with ten cartridges and four mobile phones were seized from them. They had acquired weapons from UP and were going to Kashmir. Weapons were to be used for terrorist activities, said the cops.

IS- JK is a terror outfit influenced by Islamic State ideology and is currently active only in Jammu and Kashmir.

Two suspected terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State in Jammu and Kashmir ( ISJK) organisation were arrested near the Red Fort by the sleuths of Delhi police’s Special Cell on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

ISJK is a terror outfit influenced by the Islamic State ideology and is now active only in Jammu and Kashmir. The extent of ISIS’s presence in the state was until recently limited to flag hosting, an official said, adding that ISJK is at a nascent stage.

The duo, hailing from Shopian in Kashmir, was identified as Parvez ( 24) and Jamshid ( 19). They were arrested from the Jama Masjid bus stop near the Red Fort, said DCP ( special cell) P. S. Kushwaha.

They were boarding a bus to return to Jammu and Kashmir when they were nabbed around 10.45 pm on Thursday. Two pistols of 7.65 calibre, ten cartridges, and four mobile phones were seized from them. They had acquired the weapons from Uttar Pradesh ( UP) and were going to Kashmir. Parvez’s brother was a terrorist, who was gunned in an encounter in Shopian on January 26 this year. He was initially a member of Hizbul Mujahideen and later joined ISJK. Another of his brothers, Firdaus, was first part of Hizbul Mujahideen before he joined ISJK. Parvez is currently pursuing M. Tech from Gajrola in UP and was inspired by his brother. In April, accused Parvez had delivered a 9 mm pistol to a contact of Omar Ibn Nazir, the current chief of IS in J& K. Parvez brought this pistol from Didauli in UP through his contacts. Jamshid is a final- year diploma student.

He had also facilitated Mohammed Abdullah Basith’s movement, who was arrested by the NIA, the officer said.

This was their second trip to Delhi. They had gone from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh to Kashmir through Delhi in May, the officer added.

New Delhi, Sept. 7: “We want to radicalise the entire world,” Jamsheed Zahoor Paul, one of the alleged terrorists arrested by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, told the interrogators, sources said.

Paul, along with Parvaiz Rashid Lone alias Shahid ( 24), was arrested from the Jama Masjid bus stop, near the Red Fort, on Thursday night for their alleged links with the Islamic State in Jammu and Kashmir ( IS- JK), a terror outfit influenced by the ISIS ideology.

The investigators said the two, who belonged to Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir, were highly radicalised and the cell phones seized from them had videos, adding that some notebooks were also recovered, which were being studied by the police.

Lone had completed his B. Tech in civil engineering in 2016 from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh and was currently pursuing M. Tech from Gajrola in the same state, Deputy Commissioner of Police ( Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.

In September 2016, his younger brother Firdous had first joined the Hizbul Mujahideen, before joining the ISJK, the DCP said, adding that in January this year, Firdous was killed in a shootout with the security forces at Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir.

Firdous had idolised Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who was killed by the security forces in July, 2016.

Firdous was carrying a reward of ` 3 lakh and was brainwashed by the radical elements, the police said, adding that his elder brother was deeply affected by his killing and joined the ISJK.

Lone’s father was a retired Jammu and Kashmir policeman, they said.