One arrested for conspiring murder of soldier in Shopian

The Shopian Police on Wednesday arrested one militant, namely Muzamil Ahmad Malik, in connection with the murder of 23-year-old Territorial Army jawan Irfan Ahmad Dar.

The arrested militant is accused of hatching a criminal conspiracy in the murder of the sepoy.

"In the investigation of this case, we have arrested a person named Muzamil who belongs to village Shirmal. He was involved in the conspiracy that resulted in the execution of this murder. We have identified the militants involved in the murder," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shriram Ambarkar of Shopian district told ANI.

The other accused in the conspiracy are Saddam Padder and Bilal Mohand of Hizbul Mujahideen (HB) terror group, Touseef Ahmad Itoo of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one newly recruited unidentified militant.

SSP Ambarkar further said that on the fateful day, Muzamil went to the native village of Irfan and took him to Wuthmula where the other militants were hiding in a nearby orchard to execute the pre-planned murder.

When Sepoy Dar reached the spot, he was fired at, resulting in his instant death.

"The lookout for the other three militants is on and necessary legal proceedings are in progress to complete the investigation of the instant case," Ambarkar added.

The arrest was made on the basis of witness records and evidence available with the police.

On November 25, the bullet-ridden body of Dar was found in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian.

The locals found the body lying in a pool of blood in Wothmula Nad area of Keegam, after which they informed the police.

A case was registered under Section 302 of RPC, Section 7/27 Arms Act, Section 16 in The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and an investigation was taken up.

Dar had reportedly gone on leave 10 days ago and went missing after that.