New Delhi: In a daring act, villagers of Tuksan village in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir Sunday handed over two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists to the police after capturing the men overnight, who came to the village as imposters seeking shelter.
“LeT commander Talib Hussain, a resident of Rajouri district and the mastermind behind the recent IED blasts in the district, and Faizal Ahmad Dar, a categorised terrorist of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, were captured,” said the Jammu Police.
Police said that Hussain was in constant touch with LeT terrorist Qasim based in Pakistan and was involved in at least three cases of IED blasts in Rajouri district besides civilian killings and grenade blasts. He was also associated with the BJP and had previously been appointed Jammu BJP Minority Morcha’s IT and social media in-charge.
During preliminary questioning, it was revealed that both the terrorists were also in touch with a Pakistani LeT handler.
Act of bravery
Tuksan village, with a population of nearly 4,000 people, falls in the Morahe tehsil of Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir.
“It was around 9 pm when the terrorists entered one of the houses in the village and asked for shelter,” said Mohammed Mustaq, sarpanch of the village, while talking to ThePrint.
He said it was the family of Mohammed Yousif Saman Abdul Aziz that deserved the credit for capturing the terrorists.
Recounting the incident to ThePrint, Aziz’s brother said both the terrorists entered his brother’s house at around 9 pm on the night of 2nd July.
“They entered and told my brother’s family that they were shepherds and needed shelter. Soon after the family provided them food, both of them warned my brother to step out of the house and asked him to switch off the phone,” the brother, Mohammed Shamas Din Abdul Aziz, said.
“My brother soon realised that there was something wrong and called one of my brothers from the washroom. We (four brothers) were in Angrala village and it took us one hour to reach Tuksan,” he added.
He further said that they took a rope along with them.
“When we reached, both the terrorists were sleeping in a room and their belongings were kept outside the room. When we checked, it had ammunition and we kept the bags outside the house, ” Mohammed Shamas Din said.
Two AK assault rifles, seven grenades and a pistol were recovered from the terrorists, Jammu Police informed.
The family locked the terrorists in the room but one of them was able to break the door and get out. “We captured and tied them with the rope when they stepped out of the room,” the brother recalled.
It was the next morning when the family was able to inform the police. “Due to poor network, we were not able to connect to the police and it was around 6 am when we could establish contact with SDPO, Mohare tehsil,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha applauded the villagers’ courage and said that with the kind of determination shown by the villagers, “the end days of terrorism is not far”. He also announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakhs for the villagers.
I salute the bravery of villagers of Tukson Dhok, Reasi, who apprehended two most-wanted terrorists. Such determination by common man shows end of terrorism is not far away. UT Govt to extend Rs. 5 Lakh cash reward to villagers for gallant act against terrorists and terrorism.
— Office of LG J&K (@OfficeOfLGJandK) July 3, 2022
“Since it has become public that our family handed over the terrorists to the police, I request LG to kindly provide us with adequate security for the safety of our family and village,” said Mohammed Shamas Din.
Director-General of Police Dilbag Singh has also announced a cash reward of Rs 2 lakh.
Hats off to the courage of villagers of Tuksan, in #Reasi district . Two #terrorists of LeT apprehended by villagers with weapons; 2AK #rifles, 7 #Grenades and a #Pistol. DGP announces #reward of Rs 2 lakhs for villagers. pic.twitter.com/iPXcmHtV5P
— ADGP Jammu (@igpjmu) July 3, 2022
BJP connection
Soon after the names of terrorists were announced, a letter dated 9 May by the J&K BJP Minority Morcha started doing rounds on social media.
The post mentioned the name of Talib Hussain, one of the apprehended terrorists, as the new IT and social media in-charge, BJP Minority Morcha, Jammu. The Union Territory’s BJP Minority Morcha chief Sheikh Bashir confirmed the authenticity of the letter to ThePrint, saying Hussain was connected to the BJP until a few months ago.
“Talib rendered his resignation to me two months ago and now the party has no connection with him,” said Bashir.
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