Ex-SPOs behind J-K camp attack

Deputy Superintendant of Police, Budgam, Mohammad Ismail, however, said that Mushtaq and Shafiqa were no longer working as SPOs as their services had been terminated three to four months ago. Mushtaq was a surrendered militant and he had been working for the Special Operation Group (SOG), Budgam, the DySP said. His services were discontinued after he was arrested in an abduction case. Similarly, Shafiqa was also disengaged on ground of absence from duty, he added.

The DySP, however, did not rule out the possibility of both the SPOs having been involved in the recent Fidayeen attack on the Army camp. A number of SPOs were recruited from among the surrendered militants and they continue to work for militants, he added.

Fifteen soldiers were killed in the attack on the Beerwah Army camp by two Fidayeens of the Pan Islamic Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) on the intervening night of September 11-12. The deceased included a Major.

The incident had led to bitterness between the troops and the police, with the former suspecting the latter for the attack. The police had even registered an FIR against Colonel T Sheshadaran, Commanding Officer of the 34 Rashtriya Rifles, for launching a crackdown at the Beerwah Police Station some days after the attack on the Army camp.

Giving details, sources said that the troops received information about the presence of a militant in a house at Sel village last evening. A patrol on the Beerwah-Potha Ulingah road immediately rushed to the spot. However, before the troops could cordon the house, the militant fired from an AK rifle from inside the house. Thereafter, he went to the first floor and started firing on the troops.

The troops retaliated and after some time, the inmate jumped out of the house through a window and escaped via a lane from the rear side of the house. The local villagers identified the fleeing militant as Mushtaq Ahmed, sources added.

Later, during a search, the troops seized an AK-56 rifle along with three magazines and 70 rounds, besides a radio set, two disposable rockets, five IEDs and some fake Indian currency notes. Apart from this, they also seized three police uniforms along with the batches of state police and a film roll, that disclosed the SPOs holding assault rifles and grenade launcher attachments along with some other militants. One of the militants standing along with the SPOs was identified as Riyaz Ahmed Dar of Sel. A diary was also seized from the house of the SPOs, which contained telephone numbers of various officers.

The disposable rockets and the IEDs were hidden under the floor of the house, sources said. However, as the IEDs were wired, the troops went out of the house and tried to disengage the wires with the help of bomb disposal equipment. During the process, the IEDs exploded and destroyed the house. However, there were no casualties.