SRINAGAR: Within hours of the killing of a CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, police arrested the assailant and recovered the weapon of offence on Sunday.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said an over ground worker (OGW) or a terrorist associate has also been arrested in connection with the case.
Terrorists shot dead off-duty CRPF personnel Mukhtar Ahmad at his home in the Check Chotipora area of Shopian in south Kashmir on Saturday evening.
"We have arrested #killer of CRPF personnel. #Weapon of #offence (pistol) recovered on his disclosure. 01 OGW who accompanied him during #terror crime also arrested," the IGP said in a tweet.
He said the crime was committed on the directions of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Abid Ramzan Sheikh.
In a statement later, a police spokesperson identified the alleged assailant as Rukhsar Sadiq Thoker, a resident of Rangmarg-Sedow and an active terrorist. The weapon of offence -- a pistol -- was also seized from his possession.
"During the course of investigation, he (Thoker) disclosed the identity of another terrorist associate who facilitated him in the commission of the crime. He (the terrorist associate) has been identified as Amir Ahmad Dewan, a resident of Bohrihallan in Shopian, who too was arrested and on his disclosure, a motorcycle used in the commission of the crime was recovered," the spokesperson said.
During further questioning, Thoker confessed that he is a close associate of Sheikh, the self-styled commander of the LeT and a hybrid terrorist of the said organisation.
"Furthermore, he revealed that he, along with his associate, had committed the crime on Sheikh's directions in order to create an atmosphere of terror in the area," the spokesperson said.
Investigation in the case is going on and further leads are expected, he added.