Red Fort shadow in Valley — another `Lashkar conspirator’ killed

SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 27: A day after Delhi Police shot dead a ``Lashkar-e-Toiba militant'' in Delhi, the police here claimed to have killed ...

SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 27: A day after Delhi Police shot dead a “Lashkar-e-Toiba militant” in Delhi, the police here claimed to have killed another militant from the group alleging that he, too, was one of the conspirators involved in the Red Fort attack.

Three alleged “harbourers and sympathisers” of the group were picked up. The police claimed that they had seized documents of a bank account which had a balance of over Rs 1 crore and was used for funding Lashkar operations.

But what angered local residents was the arrest of a 17-year-old girl, Dolly, from Mir Mohalla of Barzulla. Police claimed that 12 kg of RDX had been seized from a house at her instance. However, 3,000 people demonstrated against the arrest on the main airport road of Rambagh and pelted policemen with stones and bricks. The police had to fire in the air and also lathicharge the crowd. Later, the girl was released. The police said they had raided the house on specific information that it was being used as a Lashkar hideout.

Story continues below this ad

According to sources, police operations began yesterday at 8 am after “receiving certain specific inputs from the agency that carried out the operations in Delhi and tracked down the Lashkar militants, killing one and arresting another at Batla House.” The police raided eight hideouts and arrested three persons, allegedly linked to Lashkar.

“The three, including a bank official, are part of Lashkar’s local network. It was at their instance that we finally laid an ambush at Tengpora on the city outskirts early this morning, killing the outfit’s district commander, Abu Sufiyan,” Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, Ashok Bhan said. “We have also recovered documents of a bank account in the name of one of these three persons, which runs into crores and is being used to channel funds for the Lashkar operations.”

It is learnt that among the three held is a father-son duo. Bhan said the slain militant was a resident of Multan.

The police claimed to have seized a pager from the slain Lashkar commander and alleged it provided the link to the Red Fort incident. “During investigations, we found messages on the pager asking to call back a mobile number in Delhi. Interestingly, it was the mobile number recovered from the Lashkar men in Delhi,” Bhan said.

Story continues below this ad

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, Ashok Bhan, however, said that the slain militant had not participated in the Red Fort operation. “He was in touch with the militants who carried out the attack. We feel he may have been a conspirator,” Bhan said.