Police hunt for truck driver who dropped militants in Punjab

The Jammu and Kashmir Police have launched a manhunt to nab a truck driver who reportedly dropped the two militants responsible for the Udhampur attack on BSF convoy near Samroli on Wednesday in which two paramilitary troopers were killed.

Sources said the driver who hails from south Kashmir’s Kulgam district had dropped the militants a few kilometre away from the attack site before returning to the Valley.

“During the interrogation, the captured militant from Faisalabad Pakistan, Qasim alias Usman alias Naveed, revealed that both he and his accomplice who was killed in the encounter were brought by a truck driver,” he said and added the militants had a night halt in the truck between Patnitop and Kud on the highway before they travelled towards Samroli on Wednesday morning.

A police officer privy to the investigations into the terror attack told Deccan Herald that the militants had breakfast with the driver an hour before the attack. “The militants had crossed the Line of Control in Kupwara sector of Kashmir about two months back and were staying with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) handlers at different places in the Valley before leaving for Jammu in the truck for the attack,” he revealed.

He said efforts were on to track to nab the driver. “A special police team have been constituted to find out how many trucks passed through Jammu-Srinagar highway on the day and day before the attack,” the officer added. Meanwhile, in view of the deadly attack on BSF convoy security has been beefed up on the National Highway, from Kathua in Jammu to Baramulla in Kashmir. Special patrolling teams are guarding the highway and conducting surprise vehicle checking, reports said.

Reports said that the security forces are also checking the vehicles at different points on highway with the help of sniffer dog squads to rule out the possibility of further attacks.

In the last two years militants have launched several deadly attacks on the highway from Samba to Udhampur killing number of security force personnel and civilians.  

Sources said the Union Home Ministry has also asked the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir to chalk out an immediate strategy to modify its security set up on highways.

“Directions from the Home Ministry has been passed to the security agencies for immediate modification of the security set up along the national highways,” they added.