Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 8: Police today said that they arrested six youth who were set to join the militant ranks in South Kashmir’s Shopian district and were tasked to snatch rifles from the police.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Shopian district, Altaf Ahmad Khan, said that they came to know about the youth while tracking upper ground network of militants in the district.
“We came to know through technical inputs that the 6 boys some of whom are under 18 had decided to join the militancy. The upper ground network of militants was in contact with them after persuading them. We arrested them and after proper counseling we are handing over them to their parents”, said Khan.
Khan said that these youth were tasked to snatch the weapons from police guards and join militant ranks in pretext of Jihad.
The youth have been identified as Muhammad Ishaq Gonchi, 25, of Gonchipora Trenz; Kifayat Ahmad Bukhari, 16, Muhammad Yaqoob Tantray, 35, of Khurrampora; Gowhar Ahmad Naikoo 16, Shakeel Ahmad Chowpaan, 20 and Irfan Ahmad Dar, 17 of Aarampora Trenz.
The SP said that the main culprit who is behind luring the boys has been identified. He said that there are many culprits who lure the boys towards militancy. “We are tracking the main culprit and we have arrested one of the several culprits,” he said.
Khan said that more arrests are likely. He said the main culprit who is behind luring youth towards militancy works with both Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba outfits.
Responding to a question, the SP said they are investigating how many recruiting networks exist in the district and so far they have got a break in cracking one network.
Khan said that militants lure young boys towards militancy because they are immature and aren’t able to take the decisions. He said that it is the responsibility of parents and teachers to take care of the boys as it is their task and not of police.
The SP also said that they are investigating the deadly militant attack of this week which claimed the lives of three policemen and said that the case would be cracked soon.
Follow our WhatsApp channel