Five persons were apprehended and booked under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the recent recovery of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, police said on Friday.
The IED was smuggled in from across the Line of Control (LoC) and recovered from a woman at Parade Park in Poonch town on September 28.
“The woman revealed that her husband Mohd Azad provided the IED to her and, accordingly, he was picked up and subjected to sustained questioning, leading to the busting of the whole module,” Senior Superintendent of Police (Poonch) Rohit Baskotra told reporters.
He said Azad’s maternal uncle Tika Khan, who is in Pakistan, arranged the IED. It was subsequently smuggled into India and handed over to him by Qamardin and Wajahat, both of whom have been taken into custody.
The name of another person, suspected cross-border smuggler Kamaldin, also emerged during the questioning of the accused and he, along with his associate Sajad, were nabbed in a chance operation, Baskotra said.
During routine patrolling, the police noticed two persons acting suspiciously upon seeing them and tried to flee. However, they were overpowered after a brief chase. It later turned out that the duo was Kamaldin and Sajad.
Over 6 kg of heroin were seized from them, the police official said, and called the recovery a major breakthrough in the war against drugs.
Kamaldin’s two brothers — Nazar and Ateef — are also in Pakistan and working against Indian interests, he said, adding that a pistol, two magazines and 42 rounds were recovered from him.
The five have been booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the official added.
Responding to a question on the target of the IED, the senior official said the “enemy nation” always tried to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The police and security agencies are fully alert to the threat and our alertness is not allowing them to succeed,” he said
