3 militant associates held
SRINAGAR: Three militant associates of Jaish-e-mohammad (JEM) were arrested for their involvement in grenade throwing incident at the Lal Chowk here, police said on Friday.
The JEM associates were identified as Naveed Ul Lateef, Shakeel Ahmad Band and Shamshad Manzoor, all residents of south Kashmir. “As per police records, they were linked to proscribed terror outfit (JEM) and were involved in recent grenade lobbing at Pratap Park (Lal Chowk),” Srinagar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Haseeb Mughal said, adding that the module was busted four days after the attack.
Accused Shakeel Ahmad Band is a relative of former minister Khalil Band.
The SSP said Band will be called for questioning in the case as his relative was staying in his quarters in Srinagar while planning the attack. HT’S call to Band was picked up by a person saying he was unwell and not in a position to talk.
Band, an agriculture minister in the previous state government, was one of the founding members of the People’s Democratic Party. He resigned from the party in July 2019 and joined the National Conference. He has represented the Pulwama assembly segment for three terms—2002, 2008 and 2014. The SSP said they were able to zero in on the accused by using ‘digital evidence’ and ‘surveillance mechanisms’. “All of them are students. Two of them are Class 12 pass outs and the third is in BA second year. Naveed has been doing NEET coaching here and had secured around 80% marks in Class 12,” he added.
A grenade was hurled on CRPF personnel posted on duty near Pratap Park in busy Lal Chowk area of the city on Sunday, injuring two jawans and seven civilians.
The SSP said they had found radicalising content on their mobile phones. They had established links with terrorists across the border in Pakistan using internet and VPN (virtual private network), he said.
“Shakeel was communicating with Pakistan-based terrorist Shaheen and sought assistance of locals Naveed and Shamshad for carrying out the terror attack in Srinagar. The trio conspired to carry out the attack for which they obtained grenades from a local terrorist associate,” the SSP said.
“They were called on Whatsapp and given tasks to target places,” he said. “Two of the youth flipped a coin to decide who will lob the grenade. They were in contact with radicalised people and were asked to disrupt life activities in Kashmir,” he said, adding that more arrests and recoveries are anticipated.