‘25 local, 30 foreign terrorists active in J&K’
Srinagar: The terrorist who killed two labourers from Punjab here last week has been arrested, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.
The weapon used in the attack, a pistol, has been recovered, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Vijay Kumar told a press conference here.
“Adil Manzoor Langoo, the terrorist who opened fire on the two labourers from Punjab in the Habba Kadal area of the city on February 07, has been arrested,” he said.
Langoo, a resident of Zaldagar here, “carried out the attack on the directions of his handler in Pakistan”, Kumar said and added he was arrested from Srinagar.
While Amritpal Singh was killed on the spot in the February 07 attack, Rohit Masih died during treatment at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences a day later.
“It has come to the fore that the accused had conspired with his handler in Pakistan for commission of the crime,” Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Range, VK Birdi, told the press conference.
Langoo, he said, was a highly motivated and radicalised individual. “His handler in Pakistan radicalised him on social media and motivated him to carry out the attack,” Birdi said.
The February 07 incident was the first targeted killing of the year by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and the responsibility for it was taken by the banned ‘The Resistance Front (TRF)’, “a shadow group of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba”.
Birdi said that the weapon was provided to Langoo by his handler and this further “motivated him to carry out the attack”.
Langoo tracked Singh and Masih in the lanes of Habba Kadal and fired on them, killing Singh on the spot, he said.
The victims were attacked when they were on their way to their rented accommodation in the area after returning to Srinagar from Punjab’s Amritsar, Birdi said.
ADGP Kumar said police will act tough against people “who are from Jammu and Kashmir but residing in Pakistan and operating from there as handlers.”
He also appealed to parents and teachers to keep a watch for any “unusual changes” in children’s social media accounts.
Asked if terrorism has returned to Srinagar, Kumar said the number of terrorists in Kashmir is low. However, Pakistani handlers are using them to carry out such attacks, he said. Police are constantly working to apprehend them, Kumar added.
“It is a professional hazard that some modules go under the radar. But the police’s professionalism and hardwork are evident from the fact that the culprit has been arrested so fast,” he said, referring to Langoo’s arrest.
Kumar said there are 25 local and 30 foreign terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir. “There has been a drastic fall in numbers…This is why encounters have also reduced,” he added. (With inputs from PTI)
