Indian security forces in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir have arrested a jihad terror cell belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based terrorist group with links to al Qaeda. The four members of the terrorist cell were caught “in a joint operation of [Kashmir] police, Indian Army’s Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF [India’s federal police force],” the Indian newspaper Jagran reported February 25.
The existence of clandestine Lashkar-e-Tayyiba cells is matter of grave concern to India. Lashkar-e-Tayyiba is among the leading cross-border terrorist groups waging jihad to create an Islamic state in Kashmir, a northern Indian region with a large Muslim population.
The news comes as Indian authorities fear that Pakistan-based jihadist groups may use winter months to infiltrated the mountainous Kashmir region. “Security sources reveal a concerning trend where terrorists exploit winter weather conditions to infiltrate the susceptible districts of south Kashmir,” Mumbai-based Republic TV reported December 29.
The Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba has a history of staging deadly terrorist attacks aimed at Indian civilians and security forces. On November, ten LeT terrorist from Pakistan landed in Mumbai on a seafaring boat and stormed hotels and key buildings in the city – including a Jewish religious center, killing 164 people.
“Lashkar-e-Taiba module busted in J&K’s Kulgam, 4 terror associates arrested,” Deccan Chronicle, February 25, 2024:
The Jammu and Kashmir police claimed on Sunday that a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module operating from the Union Territory’s southern Kulgam district has been busted in a joint operation launched by it along with the Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
“Four terrorist associates were arrested and arms and ammunition including a pistol with two magazines and 20 rounds of ammunition and four Under Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGLs) and 24 rounds of INSAS rifle were recovered from their possession,” a police spokesman said here.
A statement issued by the J&K police here identifies the accused as Zahoor Ahmad Pandit, Basir Hussain Pandit, Imtiyaz Gul and Gulzar Ahmad Khar-all residents of Kulgam’s Wanpora area.
The police said that the raids at the hideouts of the “terror associates” were conducted by a joint team of the Kulgam police, the Army’s 1 Rashtriya Rifles and the CRPF’s 18th battalion in pursuance of an FIR registered earlier at Kulgam’s Qaimoh police station under sections 13, 18 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. “Further investigation in the case is going on. More arrests and recoveries are expected in the case,” the police statement added.
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