3 JeM militants sent to 7-day custody in J-K

Three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants, who were arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, were on Friday sent to seven-day police custody, officials said.

Police are interrogating the three to get more details, Kathua SSP Sridhar Patel told PTI.

"We have got seven-day remand of the 3 JeM terrorists today," he said.

During checking, a truck loaded with cardboard material was intercepted at 8.00 am on Thursday on the Jammu-Pathankot Highway and the three militants were arrested with arms and ammunition, Jammu Inspector General of Police Makesh Singh told PTI.

"We intercepted a truck JK 13E-2000 on specific inputs at Lakhanpur and arrested three persons at 8 AM on Thursday," Senior Superintendent of Police Kathua Sridhar Patil said.

The arms and ammunition recovered included four AK-56 rifles, two AK-47 rifles, six magazines and 180 rounds of ammunition, besides cash of Rs 11,000, the SSP said.

All the militants belonged to the Kashmir Valley, he said, adding that the truck was owned by one Suhil Ahmed Latoo of Gulshanabad, Pulwama and was driven by one Javaid Ahmed Dar.

Police identified the three as -- Ubaid-ul-Islam, a resident of Aghlar Kandi, Rajpora Pulwama; Jehangir Ahmad Parray, a resident of Pakherpora Charar-e-Sharief, Budgam; and Sabeel Ahmad Baba, a resident of Aghlar Kandi, Rajpora Pulwama.

He said they were illegally transporting arms and ammunition to Kashmir from Punjab to "disturb peace in the Valley".

The SSP said the arms and ammunition might were smuggled to arm the JeM modules in Kashmir for carrying out terror activities.

It is believed that either of these suspected militants infiltrated from across the International Border via Bamyal border in Pathankot to the Kashmir Valley with the help of over-ground workers, he said.

Sources claim that the militants were planning to execute a major terror attack.

Punjab Police have sent a team of state special operation cell (SSOC) to Kathua and joined the investigation.