Two 'overground workers' of Hizbul Mujahideen arrested in J-K's Kishtwar

Two "overground workers" of Hizbul Mujahideen were arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, police said on Sunday.

Bashir Ahmad Mengnoo of Khraipakhnoo and Wali Mohammad Sheikh of Swarbati were among 10 persons who had been identified by police for providing support to Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Mohammad Amin alias "Jehangir Saroori", who is active in the hilly district for the last three decades, a police officer said.

All the 10 persons were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in police station Dachan on Saturday for their alleged involvement in providing logistic support, finance and transport to the most wanted terrorist, he said.

"While Mengnoo and Sheikh were arrested on Saturday itself, the search for others is going on," the officer said, adding they are being questioned.

Saroori, a longest surviving terrorist who joined Hizbul Mujahideen in early 1990s, was evading arrest and is hiding in the forest of Kishtwar.

He emerged as the brain behind the revival of terrorism in the district in 2018 after it was declared terrorism free about a decade ago, police said.

On October 23 last year, police in Kishtwar had announced a bounty of Rs 30 lakh on the head of Saroori and two of his associates -- Riyaz Ahmad alias "Hazari" and Mudassir Hussain.