Police in Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora have arrested six terrorist associates and recovered IEDs, arms, ammunition, and other incriminating materials from their possession. The Awantipora police received specific intelligence that a Pakistan-based Kashmiri terrorist from the JeM outfit was in the process of identifying youths who could be motivated to join terrorist ranks. Once these youths were identified, arms, ammunition, and explosives were being delivered to them to carry out terrorist activities before their formal induction into the ranks.
Based on this information, a case was registered at Police Station Tral. During the investigation, the individuals involved in this module were identified. It was revealed that the Pakistan-based terrorist, with the help of an OGW (Over Ground Worker) in jail, had identified several youths in the Tral area of Awantipora and Kulgam district who were motivated to join the terrorist ranks.
These youths were provided with pistols, grenades, IEDs, and other explosive materials to facilitate their recruitment, said police. Before officially joining the terrorist ranks, they were instructed to carry out terrorist activities, including targeted killings, throwing grenades at security forces or public places, attacking non-local laborers, and planting and detonating IEDs.
Further investigation revealed that the Pakistan-based terrorist handler had selected specific locations for planting IEDs with the assistance of these youths. The handler also sent funds to carry out these tasks and to procure materials for fabricating additional IEDs.
So far, six terrorist associates have been arrested, and based on their disclosures, a large cache of arms, ammunition, and explosives has been recovered.
The recoveries include five IEDs with remotes, 30 detonators, 17 batteries for IEDs, two pistols, three pistol magazines, 25 live rounds of pistol ammunition, four hand grenades, and Rs 20,000 in cash. The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests and recoveries are expected in the case.
