Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday arrested four overground workers over links to terrorists associated with the proscribed terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in the union territory’s Pulwama district.
Police identified the accused as Mohammad Amin, Mohammad Rafiq, Fayaz Lone, who are residents of Khrew town, and Maqbool Dar, a resident of Awantipora town.
“Investigation has revealed that they were providing logistic support and shelter to active terrorists of JeM operating in the area. We are also finding out their active roles in terror-related activities”, a Jammu and Kashmir police official said.
Headed by Masood Azhar, a UN-designated terrorist, JeM is a terrorist organisation that carried out one of the bloodiest attacks in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on 14 February 2019 by means of a suicide bomber on a Jammu and Kashmir highway.
The attack led to a major retaliatory attack by Indian forces on suspected camps of the terror outfit in Pakistan’s Balakot area and a day later, Pakistan responded as well, leading to a dogfight between the two countries' aircraft.
Since these incidents, the tension has been mounting between India and Pakistan.
According to army officials, last year, 2019, witnessed a high number of ceasefire violations along the Jammu and Kashmir border with Pakistan - 3,289 violations, out of which 1,565 took place after August 2019, when the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped by the Indian parliament.
