Lashkar behind blasts in Rajouri, 2 operatives held

JAMMU: : Ahead of the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday claimed to have solved recent blasts in Kotranka and Budhal areas of the Rajouri district with the arrest of two Lashkar operatives.

The police have announced a suitable reward for clues leading to the arrest of Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Ta lib Shah, the brain behind recent terror activities in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch districts.

The police have launched searches for Talib Shah.

“A huge cache of explosive material, including five improvised explosive devices (IEDs), was recovered at the disclosure of the LeT operatives”, additional director general of police (ADGP), Mukesh Singh said.

Two explosions had rocked Kotrana town of Rajouri on March 26 and another on April 19, leaving two persons injured.

On April 24, another blast in Shahpur-Budhal had injured two more persons were injured.

“Working on leads, joint teams of Rajouri Police and the 60 Rashtriya Rifles (14 Sector) conducted multiple raids and search operations at various locations in Larkoti, Targain, Jaglanoo and Draaj areas of Rajouri and apprehended two suspects, Mohammad Shabir and Mohammad Sadiq of DraajBudhal village,” Singh said.

During the investigation, it came to the fore that three accused Talib Shah, also of Draaj village of Budhal area, Shabir and Sadiq were involved in these incidents of blasts, he said.

The ADGP informed that the three individuals, working on the directions of their Pakistanbased handlers, received weapons, ammunition, and explosives and later used these IEDs to trigger blasts.

He said, “it surfaced during a preliminary investigation that the group is headed by Shah, who collected three consignments of arms, ammunition and explosives from the Lamberi-Kalakote area in January, March and April”.

“Shabir and Sadiq have been arrested and the third accused (Shah) is absconding. Shah is the commander of LeT in general area Rajouri and the mastermind of all terrorist activities in the Pir Panjal area,” he said.

He said Shah has also motivated many youths for carrying out terror activities in Rajouri.

“Shabir and Sadiq were also motivated by Shah to conduct terror activities,” Singh said.