3 hybrid terrorists involved in shooting of Police constable arrested: DGP R R Swain

Srinagar, Dec 17: Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Ranjan Swain Sunday said that three hybrid terrorists of Al-Bader involved in the shooting of a Police constable in the Bemina area of Srinagar had been arrested and they had several other targets including Policemen and other people.

On December 9, terrorists fired at a policeman Muhammad Hafiz Chak (Senior Grade Constable), son of Ghulam Hassan Chak of Lontha Karnah near Hamdania Colony Bemina, Mathai Bund.

Chak was rushed to SKIMS (JVC) at Bemina and later shifted to Army 92 Base Hospital where he is under treatment.

After the terror incident, a case FIR No 112/20/23 under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 7/27 of the Arms Act, and 16, 18, and 38 of the UAP(A) besides 120 P of the IPC was registered at Police Station Bemina.

“Three hybrid terrorists who were involved in the attack on a policeman while he was returning home after duty have been arrested,” R R Swain told a selected group of reporters here.

He said that the J&K Police had achieved success in tracing the attackers of one of their policemen when he was attacked while returning from duty on December 9.

The three hybrid terrorists were identified as Imtiyaz Ahmad Khanday, son of Tariq Ahmad Khanday of Hamdaniya Colony Sector-A and Danish Ahmad Malla, son of Ghulam Muhammad Malla of Colony Sector-A and Mehnan Khan alias Mehran, son of Mehraj Din Khan of Khawajapora Saidapora, Rainawari, Srinagar.

“Constable Chak fortunately survived the attack. We hope and pray he will be back with us hale and hearty,” he said. “As far as the attackers are concerned, they had done their job and six bullets were fired, three hit the cop and three did not.”

During the news briefing, Swain was flanked by Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ashish Kumar Mishra, SP Police Component, Srinagar, Iftikhar Talib, and SP West, Srinagar, Amit Verma.
The DGP said that all of them were working at the behest of Pakistan-based handler Hamza Burhan, who originally belonged to Pulwama.

He said that Malla was the mastermind, who hatched a conspiracy to attack the Police constable Chak.

Swain said that Mala, who lives in the same locality as the victim cop, recruited two hybrid terrorists – Imtiyaz Khanday and Mehnaan Khan.

He said that they managed pistols and carried out reconnaissance for several days before shooting him on December 9 evening.

“We have recovered the pistol used in the attack at the instance of Khanday who had opened fire at the cop,” the J&K Police chief said. “Another pistol was recovered from Mehran Khan while 57 pistol rounds
were recovered from the possession of Malla.”

He said that during the sustained interrogation, these people had several other targets and some were finalised.
“Other targets were in the process of being identified and most of the targets were policemen but there were some other non-policemen also on their radar," Swain said. “I have no doubts that with the

profession investigations, using technology, and human intelligence, the case is watertight that will help link the criminals to their crimes.”

Replying to a question about the investigations into the killing of Inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani, he said the case was still under investigation.

“The NIA has taken over the investigation and I think it will be inappropriate to prematurely start connecting,” he said.

The DGP said that the Turkish pistol Canik TP9 had emerged as the new weapon of choice for the terrorists.

“There is clear evidence that Turkish pistols Canik TP9 are a class of very high-quality small arms, which are good because of their lightweight,” he said.
Swain said that it was not the first time that Canik TP9 had been recovered from terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Such weapons are being dropped from drones and pushed into J&K to carry out terror activities. Weapons being light in weight are easy to carry,” he said.