Terror financing racket busted in J&K, 5 held

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 8

The special operation group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police has busted a major terror financing racket and arrested five persons who were in contact with their Pakistani handler Haroon, alias Khubaib, a district commander of the LeT in Doda, who had exfiltrated to Pakistan in 2007.

‘Were assisting LeT’

The accused were in contact with Pakistani handler Haroon. They were tasked to identify gullible youths for recruitment in terror ranks, providing logistics support and strengthening the LeT cadre, sharing information about the presence of security forces to Pak handlers, transportation of arms from one location to another and distributing money among the families of terrorists. — A police spokesperson

According to a police spokesperson, a team of the SOG and the Army apprehended a BSc nursing student, Mubashir Farooq Batt, of the Sazan area in Doda district, who was studying in Kharar near Chandigarh, with a consignment of Rs 1.5 lakh concealed in a tiffin box on July 19.

During investigation, the SOG, Jammu, apprehended five more suspects involved in the module. They have been identified as Toqeer Ahmad Batt, Asif Batt (surrendered terrorist and ex-SPO in the J&K Police), Khalid Latief Batt (a contractor), Gazi Iqbal, (worker at a chicken shop inJammu), and Tariq Hussain Mir (grocery shop owner), all residents of Doda district.

The police spokesperson claimed that they had admitted to their involvement in the case. “The accused were in contact with Pakistani handler Haroon. They were tasked to identify gullible youths for recruitment in terror ranks, providing logistics support and strengthening the LeT cadre, sharing information about the presence of security forces and their important locations to Pak handlers, transportation of arms and ammunition from one location to another and distributing money among the families of active and deceased terrorists,” the spokesperson said.

It has surfaced that they received money amounting to Rs 12, 19,704 through different means and were also instrumental in recruiting two LeT militants in the Doda region.