2 more arrested in connection with recovery of IED in Jammu

The police spokesperson said that the apprehended accused had been directed by their handler to carry out an IED blast at a major religious place in Jammu.It was for the same reason that Nadeem ul Haq came from Banihal to Jammu -- to carry out the IED attack to spread terror and destabilise the peaceful atmosphere of the city, he said.

Two more suspected terrorists were arrested on Friday in connection with the recent recovery of a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) here, police said.

On June 27, Nadeem-ul-Haq, a resident of Banihal, was arrested with 5.5 kgs of IED from Bhatindi area in the outskirts of the city. With this, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) plan to trigger an explosion at a crowded place was averted.

''Following sustained interrogation of the accused from whose possession IED was earlier recovered, names of two more persons were revealed,'' a police spokesperson said.

Jammu police rounded up both the accused -- Nadeem Ayoub Rather of Shopian and Talib-ur-Rehman of Banihal -- who, during questioning, confessed their involvement and that they acted on the directions of their handler. The police spokesperson said that the apprehended accused had been directed by their handler to carry out an IED blast at a major religious place in Jammu.

''It was for the same reason that Nadeem ul Haq came from Banihal to Jammu -- to carry out the IED attack to spread terror and destabilise the peaceful atmosphere of the city,'' he said. It appears that the IED has been dropped by drone from across the border. Further investigation into the case is on, the police spokesperson said.