Security forces on Sunday said they raided a terror module in Mendhar area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, and detained four suspected militants, reported PTI. The police claimed the accused were planning to attack a temple in Ari village.
“Around 8 pm on Saturday, two suspects Mustafa Iqbal and Murtaza Iqbal, both sons of Mohammad Yaseen of Keri Galhuta in Gursai area of Poonch were picked up by Special Operation Group Mendher and 49 Rashtriya Rifles near Basooni,” Poonch Senior Superintendent of Police Ramesh Kumar Angral told the news agency.
The two brothers were detained during checking of vehicles near Basooni in Mendhar sector. The police officer added that a video of how to use a grenade was found on Mustafa Iqbal’s phone. “On being questioned further, he [Mustafa Iqbal] admitted to have been tasked with throwing a grenade at a temple in Ari village,” the Poonch senior superintendent of police said.
The two suspects were questioned at the 49 Rashtriya Rifles battalion headquarters in Basooni. During interrogation, the police claimed to have found a “suspicious conversation” from a Pakistani number on Mustafa Iqbal’s phone, according to the Hindustan Times.
Following this, two more suspects were picked up from Dabi village in Balakote sector on the Line of Control, according to PTI.
During a search operation of Mustafa Iqbal’s residence, the police found six grenades and a few posters of militant group, J&K Ghaznavi Force.
Sunday’s raid came a day after two suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Kanigam area of Shopian district in Jammu and Kashmir. On December 24, two suspected militants were killed during a gunfight with forces in Baramulla district.
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