2 militants held in J-K's Poonch district part of LeT module: SSP

Two militants, who were arrested from Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, were part of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module and had come to the town to ferry weapons to the Kashmir Valley, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Poonch, Rajiv Pandey said a special investigation team (SIT) headed by a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) was formed to probe the case.

Auqib Ahmad Bhat and Shabir Ahmad Dar, both hailing from Pulwama district of south Kashmir, were arrested during a joint operation by police and the Army in Mendhar area of the border district on Wednesday.

Two AK-56 rifles, two magazines, 60 rounds and four hand grenades were seized from their possession.

"Prima facie, it was established that they were part of LeT module and were assigned the task to shift weapons from Poonch to the Kashmir Valley," the SSP told reporters.

Presenting the arrested persons before the media persons, he said preliminary investigations revealed that they were not in the district to carry out any terror activity.

"They are associates of militants and their only motive was to shift the weapons from Poonch to Kashmir," Pandey said.

However, he said Poonch Police was in touch with its counterparts in the Kashmir Valley to probe the arrested persons' involvement in militancy.

The SSP said police received specific information about movement of some suspected persons and accordingly established checking points which led to the arrest of the duo from Jaran Wali Gali and the recovery of the weapons, including four hand grenades, which were kept in a specially built cavity in the vehicle at their disclosure.

"A case was registered against them and a special investigation team headed by SDPO Mendhar Neeraj Padyar has been formed to probe the case thoroughly," he said.

The SSP said from where the weapons had come was yet to be ascertained.

He said security agencies are on high alert in the district and have not lowered their guard.

"The combing operation is going on in rural and forest area. We are conducting operation in every inch of Mendhar sub-division and elsewhere," Pandey said.