Punjab police nab third accomplice of LeT terrorists arrested in Pathankot with weapons haul

Javed was trying to flee to Kashmir after learning of his accomplices’ arrest, says DGP

A day after two J&K based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives — Aamir Hussain Wani and Wasim Hassan Wani — were caught trying to smuggle weapons into the Valley to carry out terror attacks, Punjab Police, on Friday, arrested their third accomplice while he was trying to flee to Kashmir.

The third suspected LeT militant has been identified as Javed Ahmed Bhat (29), resident of Shirmal village, Shopian, J&K. He was intercepted and apprehended along with his truck from Dhobra Bridge, Pathankot, on the Amritsar-Jammu Highway by Pathankot police as he was trying to escape to the Valley on learning about the arrest of his accomplices, the press release by the state government read.

According to DGP Dinkar Gupta, Javed hails from the same village as the other two LeT operatives and is their childhood friend. The trio had been doing transport business together for the past over two to three years and had been making trips to Delhi, Amritsar and Jalandhar.

Brother of a J&K Homeguard, Arif Ahmed Bhat, Javed himself was selected by the unit in 2012 but had left the job subsequently.

Initial questioning of Javed has revealed that he had come with Aamir and Wasim from Kashmir Valley to Amritsar to collect the weapons consignment in the guise of bringing fruits and vegetables They came in two trucks and, after picking up the consignment from near Vallah Road, on June 11, Aamir and Wasim had asked Javed to stay behind in Amritsar to contact the weapons supplier on the directions of their handler, Ishfaq Ahmed Dar alias Bashir Ahmed Khan of the LeT.

An investigation was in progress to identify further links and associates of the three men in Punjab and J&K, the DGP said, pointing out that these arrests indicated widespread terror network backed by Pakistan-based militants.

They further corroborated recent intelligence inputs indicating that Pak ISI has been pushing weapon consignments and infiltrating militants from across the border into Punjab, and further to Kashmir valley for carrying out terror activities.

Earlier, on April 25, Punjab police had arrested another J&K based youth, namely Hilal Ahmed Wagay, who had come to collect drug money from Amritsar, on the instructions of slain Hizbul Mujahadeen Commander Riaz Ahmed Naikoo. In that case also, Hilal Ahmed had used a truck for ferrying the drug money.

Courtesy: Daily Tribune:  14th June, 2020