Say slain militants Pashtuns either from Pak or Afghanistan

Jammu: Two Kashmiri residents were nabbed in connection with the Sunjwan encounter that left two suicide bombers of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit dead here, a senior police officer said on Saturday.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh said the police were looking for two more conspirators involved in the planning and transportation of the two heavily-armed terrorists from Sapwal in Samba district to Jammu.
One of the arrested persons told police that the slain militants were Pashto-speaking either from a village in Pakistan bordering Afghanistan or from Afghanistan itself, he told reporters while addressing a press conference here.
Singh said that after a through investigations and analysing the Close Circuit Television Set (CCTVs) footages, it was concluded that the two Jaish fidayeen were picked up by a Kashmiri youth from Kokernag identified as Bilal Ahmed Wagay a Jaish operative from Samba in a truck laden with vegetable crates.
“Investigations also suggest that two Kashmiri brothers from Tral Shafiq Ahmed and Asif Ahmed who were working in a walnut factory in Narwal, close to Sunjwan area were in touch with a Jaish commander through Telegram application. The Jaish commander has been identified as having a code name Veer,” Singh said. “The role of another youth Iqbal from Dhamhal Hanjipora has also come to the fore. We have arrested Shafiq and Iqbal while Bilal Wagay is on the run.”
The ADGP said that after interrogating Shafiq, it was revealed that slain Jaish fidayeen were not able to speak Urdu, Hindi, English but only Pashto.
He said that Bilal Way had reached Jammu on April 20 and helped the fidayeen travel from Samba to Sunjwan. “All these Kashmir youth were in touch with JeM commander under the code name Veer and the Telegram group run by them was named as Pagal Jamaat,” the ADGP said.
He said the JeM commander Veer had informed Bilal Wagay and Shafiq that they have to receive two Jaish fidayeen in Jammu. “The slain fidayeen were tasked to carry out a massive strike in Jammu region which was foiled by our alert forces. More arrests are likely to be made in the case as investigations are on,” Singh said. KNO

KR Desk