‘Thieves,’ not Lashkar cell, stole weapons in Srinagar flood

On October 31, the Srinagar police issued a statement saying they “received a specific input regarding the activities of the sleeper cell of Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit active in Nowgam-Chanpora areas of the city. This sleeper cell was specifically tasked to carry out subversive activities in and around Srinagar city in the coming days. The activities of the main characters of the sleeper cell were meticulously monitored that led to the arrest of two militants including a driver of a private school, Mohammad Irfan Haroon resident of Tawheed Colony, Natipora, and Shakeel Ahmad Bhat, resident of Haja Mohalla, Natipora”.

The arrested men had no militant background and did not belong to any militant outfit. According to police records, Irfan had been detained in November, 2011 at Saddar police station after he was accused of stone pelting. He was released on bail 12 days later. Shakeel, as per police records, was “detained as a preventive step in March, 2011 and kept in Chanpora police post for ten days”.

The police records suggest that these two men had not been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) which in turn implies that their stone-pelting offence wasn’t too serious. The Public Safety Act, which allows the government to take a person into preventive custody for a period up to two years without trial, has been used to haul in people who police believe are serious offenders.

Police sources said that the two men had been roaming the court premises when the flood water began to recede. The court buildings had been completely submerged in the flood. The duo, the sources said, entered the premises and realised there was no one guarding the store room. The returned in the evening with a motorcycle and a van, broke open the lock of the malkhana and stole the weapons.

The sources said that residents of the locality suspected the men were burglars and confronted them but they escaped after brandishing the weapons. The theft, the sources said, came on the police radar when the men tried to sell the weapons. The police, the sources said, suspect that the men were trying to sell the weapons to militants and had already contacted the Lashkar-e-Toiba in south Kashmir. Two more men, who the police believe contacted the militants, have also been detained — Gazanfar of Nowgam and Sajjad of Chanpora.

Sources said Gazanfar and Sajjad figure in police records and had been arrested earlier for allegedly helping militants — Gazanfar was arrested in 2005, Sajjad in 2010. Police claim Gazanfar went to Pulwama to meet the militants.

When his comments were sought, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir zone, Abdul Gani Mir said police have busted a Lashkar module in Srinagar city. “We have arrested two militants and have recovered two AK rifles, nine pistols and two wireless sets,’’ he said. “We are investigating the source of these weapons and other links,” he said.