A day after the arrest of two Jammu and Kashmir-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives, Punjab Police nabbed their accomplice while he was trying to flee to Kashmir. The suspected LeT militant has been identified as 29-year-old Javed Ahmed Bhat.
Bhat was arrested from Pathankot on Amritsar Jammu highway. He hails from the same villages as the other two militants—Aamir Hussain Wani and Wasim Hassan Wani—who were arrested earlier and is reportedly their childhood friend. According to sources, the trio ran a transport business together since the past three years.
Bhat had got a job with the Home Guard in 2012 in Jammu and Kashmir, but had quit unceremoniously. “Bhat has revealed that he had come with two other operatives to collect the weapons consignment in the guise of bringing fruits and vegetables. They came in two trucks and after picking up the consignment from Vallah Road, on June 11, Aamir and Wasim had asked Bhat to stay behind in Amritsar to contact the weapons supplier on the directions of their handler, Ishfaq Ahmed Dar alias Bashir Ahmed Khan of LeT,” said a senior investigator.
According to DGP Dinkar Gupta, the arrests have highlighted the widespread terror networks backed by Pakistan-based militants. “Our investigations corroborate that Pakistan ISI has been pushing weapon consignments and infiltrating militants from across the border into Punjab, and further to Kashmir valley for carrying out terror activities. We are trying to identify and dismantle the operative network of the three arrested in Punjab,” said Gupta.
