Police have arrested two terror operatives from Mandi area of Poonch and recovered two assault rifles and ammunition from their possession foiling a terror plot in the district
The terror operatives have been identified as Tariq Sheikh son of Habibullah Sheikh of Azmatabad and Rayaz Lone son of Farooq Lone, a resident of Chambar Kanari and were arrested during search and cordon operations in Mandi area of Poonch district late last night, the sources said.
They were subjected to sustained questioning leading to recovery of two AK-47 rifles and ammunition from their possession.
“The arrested terror operatives have been shifted to safe place for sustained questioning to ascertain their links, targets and source of assault rifles,” the sources said but declined to share further details on the ground that investigations and interrogation of the accused are still on and it will take few more hours to break the nexus completely.
Sources said the terror operatives were planning to execute attacks in the border district but were waiting for the nod from their mentors. Now, efforts are on to identify mentors of the terror operatives who handed over assault rifles to the arrested persons and their intended targets.
“Investigations are on and on the basis of disclosures made by the terror operatives, some more arrests are not ruled out in the border district,” the sources said.
There have been reports that cadre of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is active in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri who may have been assisting the foreign terrorists operating in Pir Panjal ranges.
The foreign terrorists have been active in mountainous areas of some districts of the Jammu region. Contacts have been established by security forces with the terrorists in the recent past in Kishtwar and Udhampur districts. A top commander was killed in upper reaches of Basantgarh in Udhampur district.
