Twin blast accused arrested, ‘perfume IED’ recovered in Jammu

JAMMU — Jammu & Kashmir Police on Thursday claimed that it arrested the main accused involved in Jammu twin blast case. The identity of the accused has been revealed as Arif Ahmad who, as per the police, works for the banned militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Divulging information about the LeT militant associate, the Jammu & Kashmir Police chief Dilbagh Singh during a presser said that a ‘perfume IED’ has been recovered from the militant associate which earlier has never been used anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir.

Notably, nine persons were injured in two blasts that occurred in the morning inside two vehicles on January 21 at Transport Nagar in Narwal area of Jammu.

Dilbagh Singh, as per the news agency KNT, said that Arif, a resident of Reasi, who was being handled by a Pakistan-based militant of Lashker-e-Taiba was arrested by the police after electronic evidence came to the fore. He said that after planting perfume IEDs at Narwal, Arif burnt his clothes and shoes and also broke the mobile phone.

The accused is a government employee who, as per the DG Police, was being handled by a Pak-based LeT militant and was involved in many militant-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. “Arif was working for the LeT for the past three years,” Dilbagh Singh said.

He said that the arrested militant associate was in the past also involved in many militant incidents, especially in the Jammu region.

“Two bombs were planted during the evening on January 20 with a time gap so that when police personnel rushed to the spot after the first blast, the second bomb could cause maximum fatalities. The first IED was to hit the local shopkeepers,” he said, adding that the police immediately sanitized the area due to which only nine persons were injured in the first IED and no damage was caused by the second blast, though it was very powerful.

He said that police have also recovered a ‘perfume IED’ from Arif that has never been used in J&K. “The IED goes off when someone presses the spray button. We have never seen such an IED earlier,” said the DGP.

He also informed that the Katra bus fire that occurred in May last year was an act of militancy in which Arif was involved. “Two sticky IEDs were planted near the oil tank of the bus for the maximum damage,” said the DGP.

Dilbagh Singh said that Arif was also behind another blast in Shastri Nagar of Jammu city in February last year.

Arif’s maternal uncle Kamar Din is based in Pakistan through which he came in contact with a LeT militant Kasim who is also from Reasi but now residing in Pakistan.