Amid attempts by terrorists to create unrest in the Valley, a truck carrying arms and ammunition was recovered from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua on Thursday.
Three suspected terrorists affiliated to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed were arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, SSP Kathua, Sridhar Patil said.
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Jammu Inspector General of Police Makesh Singh told news agency PTI that the truck was intercepted at 8 am on the Jammu-Pathankot Highway. It was on its way to Kashmir from Bamyal area of Punjab.
The police has also seized four AK-56, and two AK-47 rifles, six magazines and 180 live rounds from the truck.
The arrested men, who hail from Kashmir, are being questioned and an investigation is underway.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was neutralised in an encounter with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore.
The LeT terrorist, identified as Asif was responsible for the Saturday shootout in Danger Pora village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore district that left four people, including a 2-year-old baby, injured.
According to the J-K Police, Asif had made use of ‘Over Ground Workers’ to print posters threatening civilians not to open shops and refrain from their day-to-day activities.
Post the revocation of Article 370, militants have been resorting to civilian killings and threats to instil fear among the people so that the return of normalcy is prevented in the valley.
On September 9, Jammu and Kashmir Police along with the Army and other security forces including the Central Reserve Police Force had arrested eight militants from the Sopore region after busting a terror module of the LeT.
The arrests come a week after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had said that more than 200 terrorists were trying to cross into India from Pakistan and Islamabad was trying to stoke violence in the region.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army and intelligence sources, quoting the confessions of two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists captured recently in Jammu and Kashmir, have also said that around 300 trained militants are prepared to enter Indian territory from Pakistan.
On Monday, a terror alert was issued by the Army for South India. The Army said that some abandoned boats were recovered from the Sir Creek area bordering India and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, according to reports, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has been released secretly from Pakistan jail to “carry out terror attacks”.
Tensions have heightened between India and Pakistan after the Centre’s move to revoke special status to Jammu and Kashmir with Islamabad stating it a “strategic blunder” that will cost New Delhi “heavily”.
Jammu and Kashmir was put under virtual curfew on 5 August when the Modi government scrapped the Article 370 and split the state into two union territories.
The restrictions, according to the government, were aimed at preventing Pakistan from creating trouble through proxies and terrorists.