SRI NAGAR: A Lashkar-e-Taiba militant involved in incidents of firing on non-local labourers and fruit traders was arrested from Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Saturday. Sopore SI of Police Javaid Iqbal said the police and security forces arrested Danish Tariq Channa, an active LeT militant and a resident of Baramulla. A pistol, a magazine, a hand grenade and seven rounds of pistol ammunition were recovered from Channa’s possession.
Iqbal said Channa is being interrogated to know more about militant modules. Channa, he said, was an associate of LeT commander Sajad Hyder. “Sajad had motivated Channa to join militancy. He was involved in firing on civilians, including firing at a labourer from Bihar and injuring five others including three fruit traders and a minor girl in Sopore. He was also involved in burning civilian vehicles, threatening fruit traders and threat shopkeepers,” the SP said.
Iqbal said Channa was scheduled to carry out grenade attacks in the markets and other establishments in Sopore. “‘With his arrest, some attacks have been averted in Sopore area,” the police official said. After Chana’s arrest, DGP Dilbag Singh visited Sopore and congratulated the policemen for the arrest.
Singh said security forces in Sopore have been on alert and search operations and area domination exercises have been able to clean up the area.
“There are still a few elements who are trying to instil fear among fruit traders and shopkeepers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistani troops shelled Indian forward posts and villages in three sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir in violation of the ceasefire on Saturday, a defence spokesman said.
Indian troops guarding the border retaliated befittingly and the exchange of fire continued for nearly two hours. There was, however, no casualty on the Indian side, the spokesman said.