Day after Jammu encounter, 2 held

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, April 23

A day after two suicide bombers were eliminated in an encounter in Jammu’s Sunjuwan area, Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh told the media here today that the police had zeroed in on Shafiq Ahmed Sheikh of Tral in Kashmir on the basis of technical analysis and arrested him.

Injured in attack, RPF sub-inspector dies

A Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer hurt in a terror attack in Pulwama succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. SI Dev Raj had suffered bullet injuries on Monday

165 rounds fired at Pak drone

Dorangla (Gurdaspur): The BSF and Punjab Police fired 165 rounds at a Pak drone as it transgressed into Indian territory on Friday night

Shafiq worked at a factory in Narwal, not far from Sunjuwan. He resided at the house of Iqbal, a resident of Kulgam, but staying at Jalalabad, Sunjuwan. Iqbal has been detained. “Shafiq and his brother Asif worked in the same factory. They had links with the JeM outfit,” the ADGP said. Asif created a Telegram ID for his brother and gave him a cellphone with a SIM card. Shafiq contacted a JeM commander in Pakistan. He was told Bilal Ahmed, a resident of Kokernag in Kashmir, would escort two suicide bombers (fidayeen) to his house.

PM MODI to unveil Rs. 20,000-cr projects during JAMMU visit today

“Bilal set out for Jammu at 10 am on April 20 and stayed at Transport Nagar in Jammu. He left for Samba in a mini-truck that had a cavity, carrying empty crates. He picked the two suicide bombers, who had a bag of

explosives, and left them with Shafiq, who took them to his house in Sunjuwan. Both terrorists spoke with the JeM commander in Pakistan on Shafiq’s phone,” the ADGP said. Before the ultras could launch their mission, Intelligence agencies alerted the police. The area was cordoned and an encounter ensued. It has come to light that the terrorists did not speak Dogri or Kashmiri. “Shafiq told the police that both spoke Pushto, which suggests they were from western Pakistan or Afghanistan,” the officer said. Bilal and Asif have absconded.

Earlier in the day, NIA Director-General Kuldiep Singh visited the encounter site. Kuldiep, who also heads the CRPF, held discussions with senior officials regarding the weapons carried by the terrorists. The NIA, sources said, collected samples at the encounter site. Kuldiep Singh also visited the Palli gram panchayat in Samba where the PM is scheduled to address panchayats across the nation virtually on Sunday.

DGP Dilbag Singh has said the attack could have been an attempt to sabotage the PM’s event. While Dilbag Singh had stated that the terrorists had infiltrated recently, the BSF stoutly refuted the claim. SPS Sandhu, DIG, BSF, said there had been no infiltration bid along IB.

A senior Army official based in Jammu also said no infiltration had been detected in Jammu division along the Line of Control.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.