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Today's Paper | May 07, 2024

Published 02 Feb, 2017 12:24pm

Police arrest suspected terrorist in AJK

Police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday arrested a man whose name appears on the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and is said to have links to the so-called 'Tehreek-e-Taliban Kashmir' (TTK), a police official confirmed.

Kashif Hanif, 29, was arrested from Datot village on the outskirts of Rawalakot, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Poonch Mir Abid told Dawn.

Hanif is suspected of involvement in nine acts of terrorism, the SSP said.

These acts included a suicide attack on an army vehicle near Dothan village in January 2010, in which some army soldiers were injured.

He is also suspected of being involved in the planting of a bomb outside a hotel in Rawalakot in September 2010 which killed the bomber was killed and injured a citizen. Hanif has also allegedly been involved in other attacks on military vehicles and installations.

SSP Abid said that the accused was wanted since 2010 by five police stations of Bagh, Poonch and Sudhnoti districts for masterminding and executing different subversive activities.

The SSP said that the accused belonged to the group of Nazirul islam alias Shamil Khan who was the first head of the so-called 'TTK' after defecting from Asmatullah Muavia.

Around two and a half months ago, police had arrested a suspected terrorist on the Fourth Schedule Toqeer Abbasi, also from Rawalakot, for his alleged involvement in at least nine cases of anti-state activities.

According to Sardar Sohail Azam, AJK’s additional secretary home, said 31 persons were put on Fourth Schedule of the ATA across AJK through three different notifications, issued in April and September 2015 and March 2016.

Of them 22 are settled in Poonch division, 6 in Muzaffarabad division and three in Pakistan.

SSP Abid said that in Poonch most of the hardened terrorists had been netted after constitution of a special team of law enforcers for the purpose.

The Fourth Schedule comprises the elements found to be or suspected to be involved in anti-state activities, delivering hate speeches and/or activists of religious outfits not yet banned but related with militancy in any way.

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