Srinagar, April 15
Within hours of the serial blasts killing five persons and injuring 44 here yesterday, the Jammu
and Kashmir Police today claimed to have busted a Jaish-e-Mohammad module with the arrest of nine militants responsible for the attacks.
A minibus carrying a large quantity of ammunition and explosives has also been seized while more startling disclosures are expected from investigations.
Disclosing this, the Director-General of Police, Mr Gopal Sharma, told a press conference here that by the time the seventh grenade was lobbed at Bohri Kadal at about 7.15 pm, the police had collected vital clues about the identity of the militants.
Consequently a minibus
carrying explosives and ammunition was seized at Ajas, Sonawari, about 40 km north of here, in Baramula district late in the evening, he said.
The recoveries included 30 UBGL grenades,
eight hand grenades, two explosive detonators, five pencil timer chargers, 45 rounds of AK 47 and an AK 47 magazine.
The investigations so far revealed that
one person in the seized vehicle distributed all these grenades at different
places from Dal Gate to Bohri Kadal, Mr Sharma said in reply to a question.
Nine militants belonging to
the Jaish-e-Mohammad from the Ajas and Srinagar areas had been arrested and further investigations were in progress, he said. “Their interrogation is continuing and some more arrests are likely to be affected to unravel the links”, he said.
He said all those arrested were responsible for the attacks here yesterday in which at least five persons were killed and 44, including 31 civilians and 11 police and security personnel, were injured.
It had already apprehended over 50 suspects during the day that led to clues to lay hands on those responsible for the grenade attacks, the police said.
Those arrested including three militants — Imtiyaz Ahmad Rather, Yasir Yusuf Lone, alias Meshooq, and Ajaz Ahmad from the Ajas area, the police said.
Six others — Arif Shah, Zubair, alias Wasim, Ashfaq, alias Jan, Sameer, Imtiyaz, alias Chotoo, and Muneer from Babu belonged to different localities here. Some of these militants were known
for their links with militant organisations.
Soon after the serial blasts, the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, the Al-Mansoorian and the Islamic Front had claimed responsibility for these.
