A day after recovering the bullet-riddled bodies of two Special Police Officers from a remote area of Dachan, Kishtwar Police on Friday circulated fresh posters of three most wanted terrorists, including Mohammad Amin, also known as Jahangir Saroori, the longest surviving ‘A++’ Category terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir.
Kishtwar Police has announced a total cash reward of Rs 30 lakh for information leading to the whereabouts of three active terrorists. Inspector General of Police, Jammu range, Tejinder Singh also arrived in Kishtwar on Friday to review the ongoing anti-terrorist operations in the region to track down the active terrorists in the area.
In October 2018, police put up similar posters of Saroori in the Kishtwar region and announced a Rs 30 lakh cash reward for information leading to his arrest.
After waiting for eight long years for a crucial piece of information, Kishtwar Police has once again appealed to the general public to help track down the three terrorists, namely Mohammad Amin alias Jahangir Saroori, Riaz Ahmed alias Hazari, and Mudassir Hussain.
Saroori was the brain behind the killing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state secretary Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar in Kishtwar town in November 2018, followed by the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary Chandrakant Sharma and his bodyguard in April 2019.
On 7 November 2023, Kishtwar police filed a chargesheet under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against two terrorists, namely Jahangir Saroori from Bhadat Saroor in Kishtwar and Mohammad Yousuf Chouhan from Chhar, Cherji, in Nagseni, Kishtwar, before a fast-track National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Doda.
Saroori had been active in Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban and Bhaderwah areas since 1992.
In Kashmir Valley, Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Gyanendra Pratap Singh Friday visited the Kulgam district and reviewed the security situation amid an ongoing manhunt for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Mohammed Lateef Bhat, suspected to be behind the attack on a CRPF Check post in which three personnel received injuries. Officials said the DG also interacted with field officers of the CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police at Sadura in Anantnag.
Meanwhile, security forces have intensified operations in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Several suspects have been picked up for questioning.
The operation continued for the third consecutive day on Friday, with security forces erecting barricades and deploying armoured vehicles at several locations across the district. Personnel are checking and frisking vehicles at security checkpoints as agencies maintain a tight vigil.
Officials said security agencies are using both human and technical intelligence to assist the operation. Security has also been strengthened in other parts of the Kashmir Valley. Police and paramilitary personnel conducted random vehicle checks in Srinagar and other districts as part of heightened security measures A comprehensive security review meeting was held on Friday to assess the overall preparedness at the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir with top officers also undertaking an extensive on-foot inspection of the twin yatra tracks from Katra to Bhawan, police said.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Inspector General of Police (Udhampur-Reasi Range) Swarn Singh Kotwal along with Senior Superintendent of Police (Reasi) Mukund Tibrewal at Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the shrine atop Trikuta hills.
It was also attended by senior officers and representatives of the CRPF, Army, CID, Intelligence Bureau (IB), other security agencies and District Police Reasi, a police spokesman said.