Top TRF terrorist arrested in J-K’s Samba

PTI, Feb 13, 2021, 10:44 AM IST

Jammu: A top terrorist affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), wanted in connection with the killing of three BJP workers and a policeman in south Kashmir last year, was arrested in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Saturday.

Zahoor Ahmad Rather alias ”Sahil,” ”Khalid” was hiding in Samba district of Jammu region and was arrested on specific information by Anantnag police, a senior police official said.

The TRF is an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terror outfit and the arrest of Rather comes a week after police arrested the self-styled commander of Lashkar-e-Mustafa Hidayatullah Malik alias ”Hasnain” from Kunjwani area of Jammu.

Rather, a resident of south Kashmir had reportedly moved to Samba to receive an arms consignment from Pakistan and was arrested from his rented accommodation in Bari Brahmana area during a joint raid by Anantnag and Samba police, the official said.

Terming the arrest of the top terrorist as a ”major breakthrough,” he said he was involved in the killing of three BJP workers in Kulgam and a policeman at Furra village in south Kashmir district last year.

Security officials said Rather had undergone arms training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 2004 and infiltrated into India along with five foreign terrorists.

However, he surrendered in 2006 but got recycled into militancy last year after joining the TRF.

The interrogation of the captured terrorist is underway and some more arrests and recoveries are expected at his disclosure, the official said.