Three detained in Kishtwar weapon snatching case

Tribune News Service

Doda, September 14

A day after an Insas rifle was snatched by suspected militants from the PSO of the PDP district president of Kishtwar, Sheikh Nasir, the police have detained three persons for questioning into the incident.

A father-son duo from the Hanjola area on the outskirts of Kishtwar town and another person from the Dachan area of Kishtwar district were detained by the police during preliminary investigations. They were being questioned to get leads into the incident.

Sources told The Tribune that the police were following some leads after the vehicle, which was used by militants to flee from the place after snatching the rifle, was recovered from the Dul road near the town. Cops had formed different teams to know the plans of the suspected militants.

“The police has come to know that the two most wanted militants of Kishtwar district were part of the snatching incident and around four-five militants were involved in the incident. The police are conducting raids at different places and during the process, three persons, Naushad, son of Abdul Subhan, and his son from Hanjora and Zakir from the Dachan area have been detained,” said a source.

Meanwhile, the day curfew was lifted in Kishtwar town and all the business establishments and offices started functioning normally, but educational institutions remained closed for Saturday. Night curfew will continue to remain in place, whereas Section 144 is in place in the town. The curfew was imposed in Kishtwar yesterday as a precautionary measure after the news of the snatching of the rifle came to fore. But once the vehicle was recovered, curfew was relaxed.

For the last one year, Kishtwar is back in focus over the revival of militancy-related incidents as, according to intelligence agencies, around 10 militants are active in the district and they are trying to spread their tentacles across the Chenab region.