Two arrested for giving SIMs to Lal Chowk terrorists

In a breakthrough in the Lal Chowk terror strike, police have arrested two persons who had allegedly provided SIM cards to two Lashker-e-Taiba militants who killed two persons during the 22-hour siege.

In a breakthrough in the Lal Chowk terror strike, police have arrested two persons who had allegedly provided SIM cards to two Lashker-e-Taiba militants who killed two persons during the 22-hour siege.

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Highly-placed sources said that duo -- Latif Malla and Imtiyaz Ahmed -- had procured the SIM cards for the two Lashker terrorists Saifullah Qari and Usman, who were killed after security forces on January 7 stormed a hotel in which they were holed up.

Malla and Ahmed were picked up and subjected to detailed questioning, after which they told the police how they had procured the SIM cards and when the cards were handed over to the Lashker militants.

The duo told the police that they had procured 120 SIM cards and handed these over to the militants during a period before the ban on pre-paid mobile phones was ordered, the sources said. All the SIMs were supplied to one Javed of Sopore in North Kashmir for which they got money, the duo said.

Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Range) Farooq Ahmed, who has to his credit the successful operation at Lal Chowk, has formed several crack teams to trace Javed, they said.