JAMMU: Terrorist outfits active in J&K have resorted to using students from Kashmir based in Punjab to smuggle weapons into the Valley, DGP Dilbag Singh said on Sunday after a nursing student who had arrived in Jammu from Chandigarh was caught carrying a 7kg improvised explosive device.
The police chief said at a presser here that a clutch of outfits had been procuring weapons from Bihar and picking students from the Valley pursuing various courses in Punjab to carry these to the Valley.
Singh lauded the police for not only staying ahead of the terrorists’ modus operandi but also carrying out a succession of successful operations against them, including the recent arrest of two self-styled commanders of different outfits.
“To give a local name to a terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba created an offshoot — The Resistance Front (TRF). Similarly, Jaish-e-Mohammad created Lashkar-e-Mustafa (LeM) to carry out terror activities in J&K,” the DGP said.
“The commander of Lashkar-e-Mustafa, Hidayatullah Malik, was an overground worker (OGW) for a long time before he plunged into terror activities backed by the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Malik was planning to set up a base in Jammu to carry out terror activities in the region, besides receiving arms and ammunition smuggled from Pakistan through underground tunnels or dropped by drones.”
Singh said Malik’s interrogation revealed that he was a close associate of JeM commander Ashiq Nengroo, who used to receive arms consignments from Pakistan in Jammu before escaping across the border along with his family through an underground tunnel.
“Since going to Pakistan, Nengroo, alias Doctor, has been directing terror activities in Kashmir at the behest of Pakistani agencies,” said the DGP, adding that Malik had visited Delhi on Nengroo’s orders. “That means JeM is planning attacks on targets in Delhi as well.”
The DGP termed Malik’s arrest a big breakthrough for the police as it exposed the terrorist outfit’s plan. “LeM chief Malik had also set up a network to get weapons from Bihar. He has sourced seven pistols from there till now and distributed these among his cadres.”