The Delhi Police on Thursday arrested Javed Mattu, a member of Islamic militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, from the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyover. The accused has been associated with multiple terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr. Mattu, who had been wanted for the last 13 years with a ₹10 lakh reward to his name, was allegedly in the Delhi-NCR region to collect arms and ammunitions from a Pakistani-based handler, to be used for a series of terror activities in the Jammu and Kashmir region, said Special Commissioner of Police Special Cell H.G.S. Dhaliwal.
“Mr. Mattu was caught in the radar of the special cell and central agencies, as the teams doubled the security for the upcoming Republic Day,” he added.
With the help of prior intelligence, a team of five, led by Additional Commissioner of Police Pramod Singh Kushwah, nabbed Mr. Mattu and recovered a 9mm star pistol with six live cartridges, one extra magazine, and one stolen car on Thursday.
Mr. Mattu is one of the few surviving ‘A++’ category terrorists from Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Dhaliwal said. The ‘A++’ category is the highest-ranked category of terrorists on the hit list of security forces.
As per the police, Mr. Mattu had been under the radar of the National Investigation Agency for some time. A resident of Sopore in the Baramulla district of the northernmost State, Mr. Mattu was associated with multiple blasts, five grenade attacks, and multiple attacks on police stations and public servants. After being injured in an exchange of fire with security forces, he went underground and fled to Nepal on the instructions of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-State Services.
The police have levied the appropriate Sections of the law, and will be interrogating the accused for more details.
