Police cracked the case in less than 48 hours after a wine shop was attacked in Baramulla, arresting four militants and an overground worker. One person was killed and three injured in the grenade attack on Thursday.
Police recovered five pistols, 23 grenades, an explosive packet, seven magazines, and 205 rounds of ammunition.
A bike used in the Thursday evening attack has been confiscated. Baramulla’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rayees Mohammad Bhat told the media that the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant module had not only attacked the wine shop but was wanted in many attacks in the area.
The arrested militants have been identified as Shahid Ahmad Bala Safeer Mir, Mohammad Maroof alias Adil, Faisal Shaban, and Hatif Sofi as per the reports by News18.
Rayees Mohammad Bhat said the module that is a part of the Falcon Squad of Lashkar, was involved in grenade-throwing in the town and firing attacks over a period of a few months, he said that technical and human intelligence helped unravel the case.
He said various pieces of evidence at the scene of the crime were assessed and analysed and some critical leads came to the fore including the grenade lever.
Police suspected two militants had come on a bike and one riding pillion and wearing a burqa lobbed the grenade through an aperture of the wine shop before fleeing from the spot. The store is not far from the residences and offices of the Army general officer commanding (GOC) 19 Division, deputy inspector general (DIG) Baramulla, and SSP Baramulla.
CCTV footage from cameras in the neighbourhood was also obtained that helped reconstruct the sequence of events before and after the incident, he said.
On the basis of human and technical intelligence, a few suspects were picked up and questioned. “During sustained interrogation, a major breakthrough was achieved by arresting four terrorists and 1 terrorist associate of the Falcon Squad module of LeT (TRF)," Bhat said.
The SSP said further disclosures made by these men led the police to raid various locations and multiple recoveries were effected including one Bajaj Pulsar motorbike bearing registration no. JK05F 4822, used in the commission of the act as per the reports by News18.
“They were tasked to carry out some big attacks in Baramulla and we got them before they could do that," he added.
He said the consignment of weapons and explosives was received by the men a few days before they carried out the attack on the wine shop. The group had earlier carried out grenade and firing attacks in and around Baramulla, said Rayees Mohammad Bhat.
