Two JKGFOperatives In Ramban Blast Case

JAMMU: With the arrest of two operatives of the terrorist group Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force (JKGF), police on Saturday claimed to have solved a blast case outside a police post in Ramban district within 72 hours.

Two police personnel suffered minor injuries when unidentified militants hurled an explosive device on the police post at village Ind in Gool area on August 2 first such incident in over a decade in the area which had been declared “terrorism-free”.

Two operatives of JKGF - Shah Din Padyar and Mohd Farooq of Gool - were arrested in connection with the blast outside the police post, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ramban, Mohita Sharma told reporters.

JKGF is a Pakistan-sponsored organisation which came to light last year and is making repeated attempts to revive militancy in the Jammu region.

More arrests are expected after the identification of the person who was financing these two persons, Sharma said.

After hurling the explosive device toward the police post, the suspected militants fled the scene taking advantage of the darkness.

A case under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Explosives Act was registered in Police Station Gool and the investigation was taken up. Soon after the incident, security forces including police, Army and CRPF launched a massive joint operation in Ind and adjoining areas of Gool to apprehend the person responsible for the attack, the officer said.

During the investigation, she said Investigation Officer visited the spot along with the Forensic Science Laboratory team and collected several pieces of evidence from the scene of crime including the traces of explosives and footprints of terrorists.

Also, a handwritten piece of paper was found near the post which claimed the attack and it came to fore that JKGF had claimed the responsibility for the attack, the SSP said.

Sharma said the investigation revealed that JKGF earlier used to have a presence only in Rajouri-Poonch districts and accordingly, Rajouri Police was contacted and the first clue came from there when it was informed that arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Talib Hussain, a resident of Draj-Budhal (Rajouri), had revealed that he had visited Gool in 2021 to give some money to a local person.

Acting on this lead given by Rajouri Police, an intense cordon and search operation was launched in Gool market area and after thorough search and linking of input, Padyar was picked up for questioning, the officer said.

She said the suspect was put to sustained questioning during which he confessed to the hatching of criminal conspiracy to the effect of reviving the militancy in Ramban by lobbing an explosive device on the Police Post Ind.

After further questioning, Sharma said he disclosed the identity of his accomplice in the conspiracy as Farooq.

They used to act as handlers of the JKGF wherein they were given funds from the organisation and were in the process of recruiting the youth to revive militancy in Ramban. Padyar and Farooq during sustained interrogation confessed that Mohd Farooq received Rs 50,000 from one person whose identity is yet to be ascertained and who had assigned the task of attacking the security forces establishment to them, she said.

It was also prima facie found during the investigation that the claim for the blast was written in the handwriting of Padyar, she said.

A mobile phone and five SIM cards have been recovered from Farooq and the Electronic Surveillance Team (ESU) of Ramban police is further working on technical inputs to establish further evidence, the officer said.

She said various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were added to the instant case.