LeT militant arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi reportedly linked to BJP

One of the two Lashker-e-Taiba militants, who were overpowered by villagers and handed to the police in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, was reportedly associated with the BJP.

LeT commander Talib Hussain, a mastermind behind the recent IED blasts in the Reasi district, and his associate Faizal Ahmad Dar were nabbed by the security forces in Tuksan, Reasi after being overpowered by the villagers.

Hussain, who hails from border Rajouri district was reportedly associated with the BJP and had previously been appointed Jammu BJP Minority Morcha’s IT and social media in-charge.

“Hussain was in constant touch with LeT terrorist Qasim based in Pakistan and was involved in at least three cases of improvised explosive device blast in Rajouri, besides civilian killings and grenade blasts,” the police said.

The other arrested militant hails from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, the police said. Two AK rifles, seven grenades, one pistol and a huge quantity of ammunition were recovered from their possession.

Tuksan village, where from the militants were arrested falls in the Morahe tehsil of Reasi district and has a population of nearly 4,000 people. “It was around 9 pm when the terrorists entered one of the houses in the village and asked for shelter,” Mohammed Mustaq, sarpanch of the village told reporters.

He said it was the family of Mohammed Yousuf Saman and Abdul Aziz that deserved the credit for capturing the militants.

J&K Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha while lauding the courage of the villagers announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh for them

“I salute the bravery of villagers of Tukson Dhok, Reasi, who apprehended two most-wanted terrorists. Such determination by common man shows end of terrorism is not far away. UT Govt to extend Rs. 5 Lakh cash reward to villagers for gallant act against terrorists and terrorism,” he tweeted.

The opposition Congress hit out at the government saying the BJP man was mulling attacking the Amarnath Yatra. “Talib Hussain, the mastermind behind the plan to carry out attacks against the Amarnath turned out to be a BJP man. He was recently appointed in charge of the IT cell Minority Morcha. Why are the patriotic journalists silent?” Congress leader Salman Nizami tweeted as he shared the letter flagging the appointment of Hussain as IT cell chief.

He also shared pictures of Hussain with senior BJP leaders.

Sharing a photo of the accused, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "BJP's patritotism is visible in the photo. BJP's alliance with terrorists are in front of everybody."

Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina dismissed the presence of Shah in his party as a "conspiracy hatched by Pakistan to target him and the party headquarters".

This is the second incident within two days where it has been alleged that terror accused had links with the BJP. The two people arrested in Udaipur were alleged by the Congress to have links with the saffron party.

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Saturday had cited Facebook posts showing accused Riyaz Akhtari with local BJP leaders and sought to know whether the Centre had moved quickly to transfer the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) due to this reason. The charge was denied by the BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya saying the accused were not BJP members and said the opposition party was peddling in fake news.

Shah and Dar were in possession of two AK Assault rifles, seven grenades, a pistol and a huge quantity of ammunition when they were confronted by Muslim villagers and disarmed before handing them over to police after tying them with ropes inside a dhok (mud-house) in the higher reaches of Gulab Garh.

(With agency inputs)