Police have reportedly busted a group and arrested 23 youth whose sole objective was to ‘snatch rifles’ from government forces personnel deployed at various government, semi-government and security installations in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.Reliable sources told CNS that security agencies arrested three youth along with sharp edged weapons when they allegedly were on a mission to attack a policeman, deployed outside a Semi-Government Building. During sustained interrogation, the trio confessed that there is a group based on 26 persons who manufacture sharp-edged weapons with the sole objective to snatch service rifles from the government forces personnel in the district.
The names of 26 persons who were part of the group surfaced during questioning of the arrested three youth and all were from the Karimabad hamlet of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Security Agencies swung into action and arrested 23 out of 26 persons, mostly youth from Karimabad and according to sources, some of the persons are the government employees.Additional SP, Pulwama Javid Ahmed while confirming the arrests of these persons told CNS that matter is still under investigation. “We have not registered any case against these arrested persons so far as investigation has not been completed yet. We are still questioning them,” he said.
Police sources informed that the arrested persons have no militant background. “These persons had chalked out a plan to attack and snatch rifles from government forces personnel in isolation. They had made sharp-edged weapons and police have seized these weapons from them.” Police sources said that during questioning some of the arrested youth have confessed that after snatching rifles from the government forces personnel, their aim was to join the militant outfit Hizbul Mujhadeen.Meanwhile, the family members of some of the arrested youth from Karimabad locality refuted the police claims and said that they are innocent and have nothing to do with militancy. “Police should thoroughly investigate the matter and should release those who are found innocent,” said the father of an arrested youth. (CNS)