Police arrest 3 ‘hybrid’ militants for killing Sarpanch in Pattan

Baramulla, May 23: Police on Monday busted a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) module by arresting three militants involved in killing a Sarpanch at Goshbugh area of Pattan.
On April 15, Sarpanch Manzoor Ahmad Bangroo of Gosbugh was killed in the orchards of Pattan in Baramulla.
Addressing a press conference here, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Baramulla Rayees Bhat identified the trio as Noor Mohammad Yatoo, Mohammad Rafiq Parray and Ashiq Hussain Parray.
According to him, they were in contact with Mohammad Afzal Lone, an Over Ground Worker (OGW) of LeT, who is presently in custody and he had directed Yatoo to motivate two people from his area to join the militant ranks after which Yatoo contacted Rafiq and Ashiq.
“He also directed them along with his brother-in-law Mehraj-ud-din Dar of Gund Jehangir to meet personally. The trio met Lone who motivated them and set targets besides obtaining arms and ammunition from him before he was arrested,” Bhat said.
The top police official said that the militants divulged the plot which was directed to them by LeT militant Yusuf Kantru and Hilal Sheikh (both killed at Malwah op) and executed by recently infiltrated militant Gulzar Ganaie (killed in an encounter at Bandipora) and Umer Lone of Wussan (still active and at large).
“On the attack day, Ashiq talked to militant Umer Lone through Facebook and briefed him about the plan. So far, three pistols, two grenades, three magazines and 32 bullets have been recovered in this case,” he said.
A case under sections 302 IPC, U/S 307 IPC, 7/27 Arms Act, 16, 20 UAPA has been already registered and further investigation is going on, Bhat added.
Talking about the district, the SSP termed the hybrid militancy in the district a big challenge and said that efforts are on to track down a few surviving militants.