The Delhi Police said on Friday that they had arrested two Kashmiri men, alleged to be associated with the nascent Islamic State in Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK).
P.S. Kushwaha, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), said Parvaiz Rashid Lone, 24, and Jamsheed Zahoor Paul, 19, of Ganopura town in Shopian of South Kashmir were held here on Thursday. Two pistols of 7.65 mm calibre, 10 live cartridges and four mobile phones were recovered.
Mr. Lone is pursuing an M.Tech. in a college at Amroha in Uttar Pradesh and Mr. Paul was studying engineering in Pulwama district of Kashmir.
Senior officials in the J&K police told The Hindu that the two had been missing for the past six days. Mr. Paul’s father, Zahoor Ahmed, a retired J&K policeman, had lodged a missing complaint with the Shopian police last week. The official said there were no cases lodged against the duo in Kashmir.
Mr. Kushwaha said the arrested persons were following instructions of Omar Ibn Nazir and Aadil Thoker, ISJK leaders, through encrypted messaging applications.
The Special Cell’s press release said Mr. Paul had facilitated the stay and travel of Abdullah Basith, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in Hyderabad on August 12 for allegedly conspiring to further the activities of the Islamic State (IS) in India. Mr. Basith’s interrogation revealed that he had been in Delhi for some days before he was arrested by the NIA.
A senior NIA official said they had not come across Mr. Paul’s involvement during Mr. Basith’s interrogation. “There were some people who were in touch with Mr. Basith but we never came across Mr. Paul’s name. Even Mr. Lone’s name did not figure in our investigation,” said the NIA official.
Mr. Kushwaha said Mr. Lone is the elder brother of Firdous Rashid Lone, alias Abu Ummer, who along with one Sameer Ahmed Lone was killed by security forces in an encounter in J&K this January. The officer said that after his brother’s death, he got influenced by the ideology of the IS and joined the ISJK.
The police got a tip-off that the two were meeting a dealer to procure weapons.
“On September 6, a trap was laid outside Netaji Subhash Park gate near Lal Quilla and the two suspects were held at 11 p.m.,” Mr. Kushwaha said.
