Pakistani LeT terrorist arrested in Kashmir

Security forces on Wednesday presented a Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist before the media, saying he had been operating in Srinagar city for two years and was now trying to resurrect militancy in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district.

The joint press conference by the Army and the police was addressed by Lt Gen K.J.S. Dhillon, Corps Commander of the Army's Srinagar-headquartered 15 Corps, and Dilbag Singh, the Director General of Police (DGP).

A Pakistani national, Waqar Ahmed of Pakistani Punjab was arrested in Pattan area of Baramulla district a few days back.

Baramulla's Senior Superintendent of Police Abdul Qayoom said the terrorist was trained in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir for four months before he infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir in July 2017.

He said Waqar was operating in Srinagar city for two years and was now trying to resurrect militancy in Baramulla district.

"He was also trained for one month at the house of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (of LeT) in Rawalpindi and he met Lakhvi twice during that period," the officer said.

The terrorist told the media that their handlers at the training centre in Muzaffarabad told them that Indian security forces were raping women in Kashmir and disallowing Islamic worship.

All this proved to be wrong when he saw the ground situation in the Kashmir Valley, he said.

Lt Gen Dhillon said his arrest was yet another proof that Pakistan was training terrorists and aiding terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dilbag Singh said 272 terrorists were killed by the security forces in the state last year.

The Corps Commander added: "In 2019, the security forces have killed 69 terrorists so far.

"After the Pulwama terror strike, we have killed 41 terrorists out of whom 25 belonged to the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit.

"The entire leadership of the JeM has been decimated. Nobody is now ready to head the outfit in the Valley."

The police officer said there was a marked fall in the numbers of local youths joining the militant ranks.

"There was a marked decrease in stone pelting incidents during 2018 as compared to the previous years."

The police chief said the security forces were in complete control of the ground situation, which he claimed "is fast improving".

--IANS

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