The Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Monday night arrested two suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists from South East Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan area.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said the suspects have been identified as Abdul Latif Mir, 22, resident of Doru village in Baramulla district, and Mohammed Ashraf Khatana (20), resident of Hat Mulla village in Kupwara district.
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Police claimed that Ashraf was studying in a madrasa in Sopore where he came in contact with Abdul. They claimed that the duo were “highly radicalised” and had planned to cross border to Pakistan for training.
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According to police, the two tried to cross the border several times from Jammu and Kashmir for training but failed due to tight vigil at Line of Control (LOC).
Police claimed they got a tip-off that a particular group of newly-recruited terrorists of the JeM would be coming to Delhi for their onward journey to Uttar Pradesh for imparting basic training. “On the basis of the information received, manual surveillances were mounted and a trap was laid near Millennium Park, Sarai Kale Khan, and the two suspected terrorists were apprehended around 10.15 p.m.”, Mr Yadav said, adding that from Sarai Kale Khan, the two were supposed to go to Nizamuddin area and stay for a short period in Delhi. “Two semi-automatic pistols, along with 10 live cartridges, have been recovered from them”.
The police said the two men followed the “Deobandi” faction of the community and considered JeM leader Maulana Masood Azhar as their role model and one of them -- Abdul Latif Mir had a facebook account in the name of Mir Latif with a display picture of Azhar. He used to listen to Azhar on social media and wanted to join them for the ‘freedom of J&K’ and ‘spread Islam’ all over the world.
The police said Abdul followed media coverage of ‘brutality on Muslims’ and listened to lectures delivered in Deobandi. “During interrogation, the police found that around four months ago, through Facebook Messenger, Abdul Latif Mir had come in contact with one Aftab Malik, who is resident of Lahore in Pakistan. Aftab sought his number and called him through WhatsApp and asked him about his display picture on Facebook. He told him that he worships the JeM leader and according to him, he has done a lot for the freedom of Kashmir and is continuously fighting against the Indian security forces. He also delivers inspirational lectures for the freedom of Kashmir," the police said.
The police stated that Abdul requested Aftab to give him a chance to join Azhar and also told him that he and Ashraf had tried to enter Pakistan through the Kupwara border but failed.
However, later, they came into contact with Pakistan-based JeM operatives through Aftab. “Both of them were directed to come to Delhi where they would meet one person, who would help them for a short stay in U.P. for imparting basic training and arranging their cross-over to Pakistan. The seized arms and ammunition were procured from one of their associates who was with them during their unsuccessful attempt to cross over to PoK from Kupwara”, Mr Yadav said.
Incriminating material in the form of audio, video files and literature have been found in their mobile phones and they were being analyzed.
Contrary to the claims made by the police, the families of the arrested duo said they had no links with militancy. “My son is getting married soon. He had gone to Delhi in the first week of November to buy stuff for the wedding. He is innocent. His arrest has come as a shock to us,” Bashir Ahmad Khatana, father of Ashraf, said. Sanaullah Mir, Abdul’s father, said, “He left for Delhi on November 4. He is a religious person. It is unbelievable that he has been shown as a militant associate.”