Shopian: Two “accused” persons have been arrested in connection with the last week’s “IED” blast in Sedaw area of Shopian in which one army soldier was killed and at least two others were injured in the southern Kashmir district, police said on Tuesday.
“Police in Shopian solved the IED blast case by arresting two accused persons involved in the commission of crime,” a police spokesperson said in a statement to GNS.
“On 2 June 2022, an IED blast took place in a private TATA Mobile vehicle hired by 15 Garwal COB Sedow for operational duties resulting in grievous injuries to three Army personnel on board,” he said, adding, Later on, one of them succumbed to his injuries. Subsequently, he said, a case (FIR No. 36/2022) under relevant sections of law was registered in police station Hirpora and investigation was taken up.
“During the course of investigation, a number of suspects were questioned and on the basis of technical leads and other corroborative evidences, role of two persons viz. Showkat Ahmed Sheikh son of Abdul Ahad and Pervaz Ahmed Lone son of Nazir Ahmed, both residents of Sedow surfaced and were subsequently arrested in the instant case,” he said, adding, “On their disclosure, incriminating materials including electronic items used in executing the blast have been recovered.”
Investigations, he said, also revealed that the entire conspiracy was hatched by Abid Ramzan Sheikh, an active militant of LeT “who was in constant touch with the accused and motivated and trained them to fix the IED on the vehicle and detonate it remotely”.
“Police have also been able to gather relevant evidence pertaining to the conspiracy and execution during investigation,” he said, adding, “Further investigation into the matter is in progress.”
Earlier Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said police cracked the recent militant attack case in which militants used “IED in a vehicle” at Sedaw Shopian. “All 4 (militant)/associates have been arrested. Congratulations to team Shopian,” he had said in a tweet.
The blast had taken place at approximately 0300 a.m. on June 2 and according to army it occurred while an army party was moving from Sedaw to lay cordon and search in general area Patitohalan. “While moving to the target area, at approximately a km from (Sedaw), an explosion took place in the civil hired vehicle, being used by the team, resulting in injuries to three Indian Army soldiers,” army had said in a statement issued to GNS. “The blast is very likely to be from either an IED or a grenade or a battery malfunctioning in the vehicle. Details are being ascertained,” it had said. One soldier among the three injured personnel died later, the army had said. (GNS)
