LeT member from UP arrested in Kashmir

srinagar — A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module, with an active member, who participated in various attacks including the ambush killing of six policemen last month and bank robberies, has been busted, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Monday.

Police also noted Sandeep Kumar Sharma, who was arrested here earlier this month, was not the first non-Muslim to have joined a militant outfit.

Giving details to the media here, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Munir Khan said: “We have arrested a militant identified as Sandeep Kumar Sharma belonging to Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar. He was part of the militant group that ambushed the Station House Officer, Achabal and five policemen in Anantnag district in June.”

SHO Feroze Dar and five policemen were killed by the LeT on June 17 in Achabal area, and their bodies disfigured.

Sharma was arrested along with another militant from the house where LeT commander Bashir Lashkari, who was behind the attack on the policemen, was killed by the security forces during a a gunfight on July 1.

The Valley police chief said Sharma was an active terrorist of the LeT who had graduated from ATM thefts and bank robberies to murder and other heinous terrorist activities.

“He was first used for ATM thefts and bank robberies where they would share the booty with him. Later he became a fullfledged terrorist. He was involved in the killing of SHO Achabal and five other policemen last month.

“Sharma was apprehended by us from the house where Bashir Lashkari had taken shelter. We have eliminated his associates and busted this LeT module.

“His interrogation has given us some vital leads which will be used in our future anti-militancy strategy,” he said. —