Cops nab 3 JeM men who attacked J&K police post

Jammu and Kashmir Police achieved major success with the arrest of three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, including university graduates who were allegedly involved in the attack on the police post Channapora, in which sentry Feroz Ahmad was critically injured on Friday.

The trio has been identified as Mushtaq, who is an MA in Education, Junaid and Latief, all hailing from Wathora in Central Kashmir's Budgam district. Mushtaq is the man who shot the sentry and unsuccessfully tried to snatch his weapon while Junaid did the recce of the police post and Latief brought them to the police station on a motorbike.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Srinagar, Dr Haseeb Mughal, said an attempt was made to snatch the weapon after Ahmad was shot at.

"The alert sentry responded quickly and the terrorists could not snatch his weapon. The sentry received gunshot wounds and his condition continues to be critical in Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences," he said

Dr Mughal noted that one of the accused, Junaid, had entered into the police station under the pretext of checking the status of the passport verification.

"He crossed the sentry thrice after proper frisking. Basically, he was trying to check whether the sentry has a back up or not. When he was convinced that the sentry is alone at the place, he informed his associates who were waiting at a distance," he said

The SSP noted that Junaid again came to the police station followed by Mushtaq, who was wearing a pheran and helmet.

"When he was asked to remove his pheran for frisking, he opened fire from his pistol. The sentry pushed him and threw his mobile at him. However, Mushtaq fired two rounds. The sentry too fired in the air and other cops in the post also opened fire. The terrorists then fled. Since the gun was tied with a chain and belt, they could not snatch it," he said.

Police said, during investigation it was established that the attackers were linked to JeM Commander Sameer Ahmad, who is operating out of Pulwama.

"Sameer and Mushtaq were classmates in University. Sameer is an MA in Earth Sciences, while Mushtaq is an MA in Education. Junaid has a previous record of stone-pelting. Latief is an over ground worker. On Sameer's instructions, they were tasked to loot weapons," said Dr Mughal.

The SSP said there are eight to 10 terrorists active in Srinagar district. "Srinagar is the central place. It is just half-an-hour from Pulwama and 45 minutes from Baramulla. You must have witnessed that no terrorism-related indent occurred during the entire election phase in Srinagar," he said.

WHO DID WHAT

The trio has been identified as Mushtaq, who is an MA in Education, Junaid and Latief, all hailing from Wathora in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Mushtaq is the man who shot the sentry and unsuccessfully tried to snatch his weapon while Junaid did the recce of the police post and Latief brought them on a motorbike