Amarnath yatra attack: 3 local LeT militants arrested

Anantnag:Less than a month after militants attacked on Amarnath yatra bus in south Kashmir on July 10, Jammu and Kashmir Police today claimed to have cracked the case by arresting three militants, besides identifying four others, including three foreigners. “Laskar-e-Taiba (LeT) was behind the attack. We have arrested three LeT militants--Bilal Ahmed Reshi, Aijaz Wagey and Zahoor Ahmed--who provided the logistic support for the attack.

They provided vehicle and motorcycle to the militants, besides carried a recce of the area,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Muneer Khan told mediapersons during a press conference here. He said the attack was carried out by four LeT militants, including a local and three Pakistani nationals. “Abu Ismail, Mavya and Furqan, all Pakistani nationals, alongwith a local militant, identified as Yawar, carried out the attack on the Amarnath yatra bus on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Anantnag on July 10,” Mr Khan said.

He said the militants were planning to attack either CRPF or yatra buses. “The code for CRPF vehicle was Bilal and for yatra vehicle was Showkat,” he said. The IGP said the attack was initially planned for July 9, but on that day there was no movement of CRPF or yatri vehicle in isolation. Mr Khan said the involvement of two LeT militants, who were killed a few days ago, is still being investigated.

He said the trio had also provided shelter to the four militants in Khudwani and Sriguffwara in south Kashmir. The state police had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) (South Kashmir) Swayam Prakash Pani to probe the attack on the pilgrims. Nine pilgrims were killed while 18 others were injured when militants fired at a bus carrying Amarnath yatra pilgrims, returning to their respective states – Gujarat and Maharashtra – from the holy cave shrine. UNI