The Jammu and Kashmir Police in Rajouri on Sunday claimed that they have foiled terrorists' plan to strike in Chandigarh and Punjab by detecting sleeper cells of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) here. While a 25-year-old resident of Bapudham colony in Chandigarh, Mohammed Khan was arrested along with three other militants, the police are on the lookout for their three other accomplices who are believed to be in Chandigarh, the J&K police told The Times Of India over phone from Rajouri. Khan, a suspected LeT terrorist, was arrested along with other three near Manja Kote in Rajouri, as they were travelling in a bus to Mendhar in Poonch district. On a tip-off, the police set up a special naka or barrier where the bus was stopped and these terrorists were arrested.
The others arrested have been identified as 35-year-old Mohmmad Taj, 40-year-old Showkat Ahmed, both residents of Poonch, and 28-year-old PoK resident Mohammad Zubar. The police had got the mobile number of their commander, Afzal Shah who had asked two of his Kashmiri accomplices to approach Mohammed Khan and Zubar.
Arrested ultras are being interrogated in a joint interrogation centre of various security agencies at Rajouri. However, no weapon has been recovered from them. The interrogation of the accused has revealed that all of them are part of an inter-state Lashkar module headed by Mendhar-based self-styled LeT divisional commander Afzal Shah. Sources in the police said that Afzal had directed Taj and Shaukat to visit Chandigarh to create sleeper cells in Punjab. Talking to TOI, CID officials in Rajouri said that on the direction of Afzal, Shaukat and Mohammad Taj went to Chandigarh to bring Mohammad Khan and Zubar to Kashmir. Zubar, who is already in the hit-list of J&K police, was in Chandigarh when the others came to the city.
The Chandigarh police, however, has claimed that as per their information the suspected terrorists visited Chandigarh only for a few hours. Inspector Vijay Kumar, in-charge of the operation cell, on behalf of senior officials, said that Mohammad Khan visited Chandigarh along with other militants, but changed their base very soon.