SRI NAGAR: A day after election schedule for State Assembly polls was announced by the Election Commission, police busted recruitment module of Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba in Jammu and Kashmir and arrested eight militants, who were tasked with targeting VIP rallies.
“Police along with Army’s 30 Rashtria Rifles personnel busted a recruitment module of LeT in Sopore area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district,” a senior police officer said. He said eight members of the terror module, including three brothers, were arrested from different areas of volatile Sopore town and adjoining areas.
“The boys, all hailed from Sopore, were recruited into the outfit in and around Sopore by LeT foreign militant Umer Khitab. Umar is a resident of Pakistan and has been operating in Sopore for some time now,” a police officer said.
Umer, on the directions from Pakistani militant Hanzulla, recruited the local youth and indoctrinated them with jehadi ideology.
The official said the LeT is facing dearth of foreign militants and is desperate to recruit the local youth.
“The boys after joining LeT were provided with the communication gadgets and weapons. They were assigned with tasks of sending weapons and money, identifying the targets vis-a-vis security installations and arranging communication devices,” he said.
He said some members of the terror module were preparing to visit Pakistan on legal documents to get training in bomb making and other militant activities.
During investigation, it has been found that the terror module was being commanded by Umer Khitab, who is taking directions from another Pakistani militant Hanzullah, the official said.
“Other members of the group were planning assaults including grenade attack on VIP rallies and attacks on police and security forces,” he said. Hinting that the information was provided by local people, the police official said, “We are thankful to people of the area, who provided timely inputs that lead to the arrest of the terror gang”.