A civilian was injured after militants opened fire at him in the Durganag area in Srinagar District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India on February 17, reports Daily Excelsior. Police said, the militants fired at Akash Mehraj son of Ramesh Kumar Mehra outside his famous eatery Krishna Dhaba at Sonwar in the Durganag area. Muslim Janbaz Force (MJF) has claimed responsibility for the attack. “We will target those non-J&K citizens who get a Domicile Certificate and those who will sell land to them and the property brokers involved in such deals”, said a statement issued by MJF. However, an official said that he was J&K permanent resident. This is the second attack on non-Kashmiri residents in the city after the abrogation of the special status of J&K. Earlier in January, a jeweller, identified as, Satpal, settled in J&K for the last five decades, was shot dead. The Resistance Front (TRF)akaJK Fighters, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant outfit, had claimed responsibility for the attack.
A major tragedy was averted with timely detection of a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted inside a pressure cooker on the busy highway in Manjakote area in Rajouri District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India on February 17, reports Daily Excelsior. The suspected IED was found on the roadside at Manjakote on Jammu-Poonch Highway and was subsequently destroyed by the Army’s Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), reports said. An Army officer said, “This morning a Road Opening Party of the Army found a suspicious object along the highway near Manjakote. Soon, traffic was controlled on the highway and a Bomb Disposal Squad was called in. The suspected material, packed in a fruit packing box, was destroyed through a controlled explosion.”
Police arrested three militant associates of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) in Tral area in Pulwama District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India on February 17, reports Daily Excelsior. Police said that acting on specific information of militant movement, Awantipora Police along with 42 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and 180 Bn Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched search operations in Batagund and Dadsara villages in Tral, and during the search operations, arrested three associates of HM, involved in providing shelter, logistics and transportation of arms and ammunition to the HM militants in Tral and Awantipora areas. “During on spot questioning of the arrested associates IED [Improvised Explosive Device] material was recovered from the house of one of the arrested associates in Dadsara which includes 8 electric detonators, 7 anti-mechanism switches, 3 pressure switches/relay mechanism switches, one improvised switch and one anti-mine wireless antenna,” Police said. Those arrested have been identified as Shafat Ahmad Sofi, a resident of Batagund, Majid Mohammad Bhat and Umer Rashid Wani, both residents of Dadsara.
Police, on February 17, arrested top militant of JK Ghaznavi Force soon after he landed at Jammu Airport from Kuwait via Mumbai to further spread network of his outfit in Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India, where he had already recruited many militants, reports Daily Excelsior. Police was keeping track on militant Sher Ali, a resident of Dhargloon in Mendhar area of Poonch District as his name had surfaced in motivating youth of twin border Districts of Poonch and Rajouri to join militancy, who had gone for work in Kuwait. The Police said, “Sher Ali was, in fact, running the terror network from Kuwait.” Poonch Police teams led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ramesh Angral, had developed specific information that Sher Ali is returning to Poonch to motivate more local youth to join Ghaznavi Force. Sher Ali reached Mumbai from Kuwait this morning. He boarded Jammu-bound flight at Mumbai at 11.30 am, and as he landed at Jammu Airport, a Poonch Police team already waiting there overpowered him and arrested him. Mushtaq Ahmad and Raskeem Akhter, father and sister of Sher Ali, are already under arrest for their involvement in militant activities. Sher Ali is the main coordinator and facilitator of militant activities of various terror groups involving facilitating infiltration, smuggling of arms and ammunition and narcotics from PoJK to Indian territory from Balakote area of Poonch District. Sitting abroad, Sher Ali was involved in sending two Pakistan militants from Dabbi area of Balakote sector on the intervening night of 24th and 25th November 2020 at the behest of Pakistani handler named Sultan. Sher Ali was also involved in drug smuggling along with arms and ammunitions and two kilograms heroine worth approximately INR 80 million in the international market were also recovered from his terror network which was meant to be used for terror financing. So far from this network, Police have recovered five pistols, 13 grenades and one live Improvised Explosive Device (IED).