The Jammu and Kashmir Police arrested three suspected operatives of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist group in Jammu, a police spokesperson said. The police have also recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, including three AK assault rifles, one pistol and six grenades, from an oil tanker in the Narwal area, PTI reported.
The spokesperson said the Jaish module was assigned the task of transporting the weapons sent by a Pakistani handler from across the border to Kashmir.
The driver of the oil tanker, identified as Mohd Yaseen, and his associates -- Farhan Farooq and Farooq Ahmad -- were booked on Tuesday night after they got into a scuffle with a police team managing traffic on the highway. The scuffle took place after the tanker was asked not to park on road.
The trio, residents of Pampore area in south kashmir's Pulwama district, were then taken to the Bahu Fort police station. The information about them was relayed to the police stations from where the accused hailed.
"It came to the notice that the driver (Yaseen) is involved in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act registered at Awantipora police station and is associated with JeM. After sustained interrogation, the driver disclosed that they have come to Jammu to pick up weapons at the behest of Shahbaaz, a JeM handler who is in Pakistan," PTI quoted the spokesman as saying.
Yaseen also disclosed during interrogation that they were assigned to transport and hand over the weapons to a terrorist in Kashmir.
"Yaseen also confessed that he had concealed a consignment of arms and ammunition in the oil tanker. Upon this the tanker was again searched in the presence of a magistrate and the recoveries made thereof include three AK-56 rifles, one pistol, nine magazines, 191 rounds of ammunition and six grenades," the spokesman further said.
Last month, J&K police claimed to have busted a terror module being coordinated from Europe. Two members involved in ferrying weapons and explosives dropped by drones coming from Pakistan were arrested by the police in the operation.
In September, two terrorists involved in the killings of migrants were neutralised in an encounter by Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Nowgam area of Srinagar. They were affiliated with the terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH).
The neutralised terrorists were involved in the recent terror attack on an outside labourer namely Muneer ul Islam from West Bengal on September 2 in Pulwama, Additional Director General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar had said.