Srinagar, June 16: In a big break, police said on Friday that they had caught five Jaish-i-Muhammad terrorists who were reportedly involved in the killing of Deepak Kumar, a worker from Udhampur, 18 days ago at Janglatmandi, near Anantnag Amusement Park in south Kashmir.
At a press conference, DIG South Kashmir Rayees Mohammad Bhat (IPS) said that on May 29 at 21:14, unknown gunmen on a scooty rode up to the amusement park near GMC Anantnag and shot a labourer named Deepak Kumar alias Deepu of Thial-Panchayat Deot Bilaspur Udhampur with weapons and bullets they got illegally. Deepak Kumar was left with serious injuries. Deepu was taken to the GMC Anantnag hospital by workers at the entertainment park, where doctors pronounced him dead. He said that after the attack, the attackers ran away from the scene.
He said that when police got this information, they opened a case (FIR No. 171/2023) under sections 7/27 I.A. Act, 302 IPC, 16,18,20, and 39 of the ULAP Act and started an investigation.
Then, he said, on May 30, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up, the investigation was done, and all possible technical, human, and science proof was gathered to catch the accused.
He also said that Sehran Bashir Nadaf of Shirpora Deva Colony and Ubaid Nazir Laigroo of Shirpora New Colony went missing from Deva Colony. The investigation team also looked at the fact that these two people were missing from Deva Colony near GMC-Anantnag, which is close to where the accident happened. Technical and human data were examined, which helped them figure out what happened.
“In the meantime, on June 23, around 11:45 p.m., police caught two suspects during Naka Checking at the Semthan-Tulkhan Crossing. Their information led to a big break in the case, and the people who were accused of committing the crime were found,” he told a GNS reporter. Together, their information and the study of scientific and technical data led to the recovery of weapons, ammo, and the scooty (JK03M-0442), which was “used in the act,” he said.
“The evidence was found and taken away in front of the Executive Magistrate, and the two main suspects who were part of the JeM/KFF group and who were involved in the crime were arrested.”
He said that as the case was looked into more, it turned out that there were more charged people who had helped with “logistics” and planned a crime with the others. He said that three more suspects were arrested after that.
“It’s important to note that the accused were in touch with a JeM/KFF handler named Khalid Kamran, and the attack happened on his orders.”
He said that the arrests and the things that were taken from them helped solve the murder case and stop big threats that the suspects had been “asked to do by their handler across the border.” He said that more reviews are being done and that more information is likely to come out.
The DIG named the arrested suspects as Sehran Bashir Nadaf, Ubaid Nazir Laigroo, Umer Amin Thoker of Waghama, Huzaif Shabir Bhat of Wachi Shopian, and Nasir Farooq Shah of Wanteng Mohalla Bijbehara.
He also said that he found an AK-47, its magazine, and 40 rounds. He also said that he found two pistols, the same number of magazines, seven rounds, the same number of empty shells, three hand grenades, seven cell phones, and a Scooter.
