JAMMU: J&K police arrested Wednesday a 45-year-old man named Hakam Din, alleged to be a local “overground worker” for terrorist organisations and the prime suspect in guiding and sheltering the group of suspected Pakistani gunmen who attacked a bus carrying pilgrims in Reasi district on June 9.
The attack, carried out with M4 carbines and other semiautomatic weapons, resulted in the deaths of seven pilgrims, the bus driver, and the conductor, and left 41 others wounded as the bus travelling from Shiv Khori cave shrine to Vaishno Devi temple in Katra rolled down a hillside near Teryath village.
Reasi SSP Mohita Sharma said Din, a resident of Bandhrahi in Rajouri district, was arrested in Reasi. “The arrested man has confessed that he helped the terrorists as a guide and also helped them find shelter,” Sharma said. “During preliminary interrogation, the arrested man mentioned about three terrorists. A day before the attack, they stayed at his home.”
The SSP alleged that Din guided the terrorists through the forests to the site of the attack and received Rs 6,000 for his assistance. Police claimed to have found the money at his home.
Sharma said around 150 people have been detained for questioning in connection with the attack. “We will not stop until those terrorists are either arrested or neutralised,” she said.
After June 9, the Jammu region saw three more attacks on June 11 and 12 in Kathua and Doda districts, resulting in the death of a CRPF constable and two terrorists, who are not linked to the pilgrim bus ambush. Security forces are actively scouring the region’s rugged terrain and forests with drones and military dogs to capture the terrorists, but no one has been captured or killed yet.
The attack, carried out with M4 carbines and other semiautomatic weapons, resulted in the deaths of seven pilgrims, the bus driver, and the conductor, and left 41 others wounded as the bus travelling from Shiv Khori cave shrine to Vaishno Devi temple in Katra rolled down a hillside near Teryath village.
Reasi SSP Mohita Sharma said Din, a resident of Bandhrahi in Rajouri district, was arrested in Reasi. “The arrested man has confessed that he helped the terrorists as a guide and also helped them find shelter,” Sharma said. “During preliminary interrogation, the arrested man mentioned about three terrorists. A day before the attack, they stayed at his home.”
The SSP alleged that Din guided the terrorists through the forests to the site of the attack and received Rs 6,000 for his assistance. Police claimed to have found the money at his home.
Sharma said around 150 people have been detained for questioning in connection with the attack. “We will not stop until those terrorists are either arrested or neutralised,” she said.
After June 9, the Jammu region saw three more attacks on June 11 and 12 in Kathua and Doda districts, resulting in the death of a CRPF constable and two terrorists, who are not linked to the pilgrim bus ambush. Security forces are actively scouring the region’s rugged terrain and forests with drones and military dogs to capture the terrorists, but no one has been captured or killed yet.
