Hizbul Mujahideen module busted in Kashmir’s Handwara district, 2 militants held

The militants were allegedly recruiting young men by radicalising them through social media and were also responsible for acquiring arms.

Security forces busted a Hizbul Mujahideen module when they arrested two militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Handwara on Monday. Two supporters of the militant outfit were also nabbed in Awantipora.

Kashmir Valley is witnessing a fresh spell of protests after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Sabzar Bhat last month(PTI File photo)

The militants, both residents of Awantipora, were recruiting young men by radicalising them through social media and were also responsible for acquiring arms, police sources said.

“They were misusing web chats to hatch and execute terrorist conspiracies,’’ a Srinagar-based police spokesman said. Police’s cyber surveillance unit had found incriminating material after going through their social-media accounts.

The two men, identified as Mehrajudin and Obaid Shafi Malla, had were in Handwara to receive ammunition and other war-like stores for their outfit in south Kashmir, the spokesperson said.

South Kashmir is the hotbed of insurgency. Of the 200 militants active in the Valley, 99 are from the southern districts, say police.

Acting on information about the presence of militants, a joint team of police and army’s 21 Rashtriya Rifle set up barricades at Chogal, the spokesperson said.

They tried to flee the check point but were nabbed and a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from them, the spokesman said.

The duo led them to two Hizbul supporters, known as over ground workers in police parlance, who were arrested from Awantipora.

Security forces have stepped up the offensive in the Valley, bringing back search operations after a gap of 15 years. Militants have targeted troops and security installations in recent months though streets have been calmer this summer compared to last year when violent protests left around 100 people, most of them civilians, dead.

Infiltration attempts along the line of control, the de facto border with Pakistan, are on the rise.

Five infiltrators were gunned down in the Uri sector on Friday. The army says it killed 13 militants during the week, taking the number of intruders shot dead along the LoC this year to 40.