Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir have arrested four overground workers (OGWs) with the Pakistan-based terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Shopian and Budgam district of Kashmir. Two of the accused were associated with Jaish, while the other two belonged to Lashkar, the sources said.
Personnel of 55 Rashtriya Rifle and 178 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were inspecting the vehicles at a checkpoint when they found a pistol and hand grenade from the two accused, identified as Ahmad Koka and Ahmad Dar.
The initial probe revealed that the accused had plans to target the security personnel.
The other two OGWs of Lashkar, identified as Ishfaq Ahmad Dar and Gulam Mohammad, were arrested by Rashtriya Rifle personnel and Budgam Police. The police said that questionable material was recovered from them.
Earlier in the month, Jammu and Kashmir police busted an active terror module of Pakistan-based Jaish-e Mohammad (JeM) inside Kot Bhalwal Central Jail. Police recovered SIM cards, mobile phones, and other incriminating material from one of the barracks.
Another OGW of Jaish-e-Mohammad was arrested from a village bordering Pakistan in Jammu. Mohammad Muzaffar Beigh, 24, a resident of the Handwara area of northern Kashmir's Kupwara, district was arrested with incriminating documents in a late-night raid.
The Indian government had reported that terrorist activities in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir had reduced following the abrogation of Article 370, which stripped the former state of its special status under the country's constitution. India's parliament was informed in March that only 79 terror-related incidents had occurred in Jammu and Kashmir since August 2019.