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5 hybrid terrorists held for killing Udhampur circus worker
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday said to have cracked the May 29 killing of a Udhampur circus worker by arresting five persons of south Kashmir who were allegedly tasked by Jaish-e-Mohammad handlers across the border for the killing.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday said to have cracked the May 29 killing of a circus worker by arresting five persons of south Kashmir who were allegedly tasked by Jaish-e-Mohammad handlers across the border for the killing.
Deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, south Kashmir, Rayees Ahmad Bhat said that they have unearthed the entire terrorist conspiracy into the killing of Kumar alias Deepu, a circus worker of Udhampur, who was shot in Anantnag in south Kashmir on May 29.
“The whole conspiracy has been revealed,” he said and blamed it on handlers across the border.
“This is a classic example of hybrid terrorists in which a completely fresh, young or impressionable mind is used by handlers across (the border) to carry out such targeted attacks,” he said.
He said that five persons have been arrested and identified them as Sehran Bashir Nadaf and Ubaid Nazir Laigroo of Anantnag town, Umer Amin Thoker of Waghama, Huzaif Shabir Bhat of Wachi, Shopian, and Nasir Farooq Shah of Wanteng Mohalla, Bijbehara.
On May 29, bike-borne militants had fired upon Kumar who was working at a private circus at an amusement park near Janglaat Mandi in Anantnag. He was taken to hospital where he was declared dead.
Bhat said that their investigation relied on technical leads and other clues. “We zeroed in on some suspects who were interrogated. In the meanwhile, two persons from Anantnag –Sehran Bashir Nadaf and Ubair Nazir Laigroo – went missing. Our investigation was pointing to these individuals. We started a protracted search operation to trace them,” he said.
He said that they also got some more clues and human intelligence. “Ultimately, we were able to arrest the accused. The whole conspiracy was then revealed. It took us time to uncover the whole chain as to who supplied the weapon, who did recce and how the whole attack was planned,” he said.
The official said that the killing was directed from Pakistan. “The directions had come from Pakistan-based handler Khalid Kamran who belongs to a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) or its front organisation Kashmir Freedom Fighters (KFF) outfit and that is how the conspiracy was implemented. The whole conspiracy has been unearthed by the SIT,” he said.
He said that they have recovered one AK-47 rifle, AK-47 magazine, 40 rounds of AK ammunition, two pistols and two pistol magazines, seven live rounds of pistols, seven empty cartridges, three hand grenades, mobile phones and a Scooty used in the commission of the crime.
“This was a group which has been working for some time. We are expecting some more arrests and certain more revelations in the case,” he said.
“A modus operandi is being used to do these minority killings. Repeatedly, handlers specify that this community should be targeted. For the past year and a half, there were such incidents when people were targeted based on a community. In this case, the victim was a poor man and was here to work in a circus to support his family,” he said.
