Udhampur blast case cracked, 1 held

Our Correspondent

Jammu, October 2

The J&K Police on Sunday claimed to have arrested the terrorist behind the two Udhampur blasts on September 28 and 29. Addressing a press conference, DGP Dilbag Singh said a few suspects of the area had been rounded up during the course of investigation. “One of them, Mohd Aslam Sheikh, a resident of Kadwa Basantgarh in Udhampur, confessed that he had placed the IEDs in both the buses at the Ramnagar bus stand on the direction of his Pakistani handler Mohammed Amin Bhat, alias Khubaib. Khubaib hails from Doda but had been residing in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” he said.

Sheikh, a surrendered terrorist, had been in contact with Bhat for quite some time. “Sheikh was asked by the handler to receive some consignment from near the international border on Samba-Kathua axis. He was promised monetary benefits. On September 23, Sheikh received a consignment from Dayala Chak area. On September 28, he took two IEDs to the Ramnagar bus stand, activated the same and kept one each in the side cabin of the Udhampur-bound buses,” the DGP said.

The first IED blast occurred at around 10.30 pm on September 28 and the second one at 5.30 am next day, leaving two persons—Vijay Kumar and Sunil Singh—injured.

According to Dilbag Singh, some recoveries have also been made from the house of Sheikh, including two IEDs, three sticky IEDs, five detonators, two timer devices and four dry batteries. Further investigation is going on.

Earlier associated with Hizbul Mujahideen, Sheikh had surrendered.

Meanwhile, the Kathua police seized a sticky bomb from a released terrorist. He has been identified as Zakar Hussain Bhat of Billawar.

A police team of Kathua, led by SHO OP Chib, had laid a checkpoint in the area after receiving an input about the movement of the terrorist. Besides the explosive, Rs 20,000 was also seized from the accused in presence of Kathua Executive Magistrate (1st Class) Jagdish Raj.

Sticky bomb seized in Kathua district

The Kathua police have seized a sticky bomb from one Zakar Hussain Bhat, a resident of Billawar. Bhat is said to have had past association with some terror group. Caught at a checkpoint in Kathua, some cash has also been seized from him.

Explosives, detonators seized

• Two improvised explosive devices, three sticky bombs, five detonators, two timer devices and four batteries have been seized from the house of Mohd Aslam Sheikh.
• He was given explosives to target two buses in Ramnagar by his Pakistani handler, who promised him monetary benefits.
• His Pakistani handler Mohammed Amin Bhat, alias Khubaib, hails from Doda district but has been residing in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. His name has figured in crimes in the past as well.

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